


Sun's Radiance

by bfketh



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Ancient Egypt, Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Assumed Character Death, Character Death, Covering My Bases, Gladiators, Harems, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Significantly More Fluff Than Angst, Slaves, Violence, War, not as dark as it sounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-05-03 18:46:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5302706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfketh/pseuds/bfketh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Khemia: The Two Kingdoms, land of Sedge and Bee, nourished by the Great River, and ruled over by the Pharaohs through the grace of the bloodline of Ra.</p><p>Levi was born into this land, the son of a harem slave, unclaimed and unacknowledged by the noble that fathered him and destined for the same life as his mother.</p><p>That is, until a chance encounter with a boy whose eyes blazed like green fire set him on a path that would take him far from home before leading him back to where he truly belonged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Chance Encounter

Levi stepped out into the quiet of the hallway and slid down behind one of the tall, red columns supporting the high ceiling. While still technically in the harem quarters, this area was out of the way and not much used during this time of day, when the other slaves gathered in the common area and chatted or napped as the heat of the early afternoon pressed over the palace, stilling the bustle within and making everyone sleepy. Indeed, Levi felt his own eyes grow heavy as they traced over the familiar friezes decorating the walls. The ones here depicted musicians and dancers entertaining richly dressed nobles. There were hieroglyphics interwoven with the pictures as well, but none of the harem slaves could read, although one of the overseers had told him once that they were mostly love poetry.

He wondered if the entire palace was filled with more of the same. Perhaps in the dining hall there was a poem in some corner extolling the virtues of mushrooms, and across from it an ode to stewed fish.

His half-awake musings were broken by the sound of bare feet slapping against the tiled floor. Levi tensed and listened, before determining that the steps were too light and quick to be an adult. He sighed and stood. Likely one of the harem children had come looking for him; as the oldest but still too young to enter his own training, Levi often found himself placed in charge of the other children. Brushing at his linen shendyt to dislodge any dirt that might have settled from sitting, Levi walked around the column to see what was the matter _this_ time, only to freeze when the face that looked back at him was that of a stranger.

The boy was about Levi’s own age, perhaps a little younger. He was dressed similarly as well, but the weave of the shendyt wrapped around his waist was much finer than Levi’s own, and his jewelry was both more plentiful and more expensive - armbands and wristbands of gold and carnelian stones and a heavy beaded collar that looked to be made almost entirely of lapis lazuli. Definitely not a servant or a slave then; the boy was probably the son of one of the nobles or high-ranking priests.

Levi cleared his throat. “You’re not supposed to be here.” It was true; only specially approved servants were allowed in the harem quarters. When one - or more - of the slaves were requested to entertain nobles or visiting dignitaries, they were escorted out of the quarters to wherever their services were needed. The Pharaoh could visit, of course, but he had his own royal harem. Not that it was unheard of; the Princess’s mother had been one of the harem slaves. After her birth, the woman had been elevated to the status of a concubine and moved to the royal apartments.

The boy tilted his head at him. “I’ve been here five times before and not been caught.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed at the boy’s nerve. As if that excused him instead of making the transgression worse! He opened his mouth to call the guards.

“No! Wait!” the boy hissed out, leaping forward to clap a hand over Levi’s mouth. The shout died in Levi’s throat, partly due to affront, and partly due to the fact that he hadn’t realized just how _green_ the other boy’s eyes were until they were inches from his face. He continued as if he was oblivious to Levi’s distress. “Please, don’t tell! If you keep quiet, I’ll show you something good!”

Levi wasn’t entirely sure why, but he found himself nodding. The boy withdrew his hand slowly, as if to make sure Levi didn’t shout the second he relaxed his guard. He gave Levi a long look, and then he turned away, motioning for Levi to follow.

 

A short time later, Levi found himself kneeling in a room that seemed to have been given over to storage and then promptly forgotten. He fought back a sneeze as a cloud of dust rose up from the cloth covered furniture. The other boy glanced at him over his shoulder before turning away and pulling out a bit of meat from the pouch at his belt. He held it out in front of a hole caved into one of the storage chests and made little cooing noises. Levi shifted uncomfortably, ready to bolt if a rat or a snake poked its head out of the hole. Instead what emerged was-

“A cat?”

The boy turned to him with a grin as a grey cat slinked from the box, four kittens tumbling out behind her. “Yep! I found them two weeks ago.” He dropped the meat on the tile where the mother sniffed it, and he picked up one of the balls of fluff. “They’ve gotten so much bigger since then; haven’t you, little Bastet?” The kitten seemed to meow in agreement as the boy nuzzled his nose against its round belly.

Levi picked up one as well, marveling at how soft its fur felt against his fingers. “How’d they even get in here?”

The boy nodded at where furniture and wooden boxes were piled haphazardly against a wall, nearly reaching the high windows. “There’s a tree in the garden outside that has a branch right against the wall.” He looked at Levi with calculating eyes as Levi continued petting the kittens as they wrestled and played with each other on the floor while the mother cat washed herself and watched over them. Unprompted, he said, “You may call me Eren. What’s your name?”

“Ah.” Levi looked up, surprised that he was asking. “Er, Levi.”

“Levi,” Eren repeated before taking one of Levi’s hands with both of his own. “We’re friends now, right?”

Levi blinked, slowly. “You...you want to be friends? With _me_?”

Eren nodded quickly. “Yes! We share a secret now, which is what friends do, isn’t it?”

His large green eyes stared up at Levi with such earnestness that Levi found himself wondering if perhaps Eren didn’t have many friends. “...Alright. Friends.”

Eren grinned, the expression lighting up his face. He opened his mouth, but just then a faint voice could be heard, the sound drifting in through the windows. “Eren! Eren, where did you wander off to this time?!”

“Oops.” Eren dropped Levi’s hand and stood. “Better go before someone finds me here. I’ll meet you again, same place and time as before. Oh, but it might not be for a few days; they always watch me closer when I manage to give them the slip. Bye, Levi!” And with that, Eren was gone, his departure as swift as a storm over the desert.

**~~~~~**

 

It was three days before Eren showed up in the harem quarters again. In the meantime, Levi had been sneaking treats of his own to the kittens. He thought briefly about showing them to the other children, but decided against it when he remembered how happy having a secret had seemed to make Eren. They kept meeting to play with the kittens while the rest of the palace slumbered under the noonday heat, sometimes several days in a row, sometimes sporadically. When the kittens grew large enough that they left the storage room on their own, they explored other parts of the harem quarters, Levi more than familiar enough to guide them through areas where people were not likely to be.

A few times, Eren sneaked Levi out of the harem to other parts of the palace, but Levi was always nervous about those trips. His punishment for being caught wandering would be much more severe than Eren’s if he was found in the harem, and Levi could not help but be anxious, no matter how many times that Eren assured him he would take the blame. Still, there was something exciting as well about sneaking out where he was not supposed to, and, if Eren’s life was even half as restricted as his own, then Levi could start to understand Eren’s frequent efforts to evade his minders.

There were very few times when the children of the harem slaves - destined to join the harem themselves when they were old enough unless their noble fathers decided to acknowledge them and accept them into their households - were allowed outside of the harem. One of those times occurred about three months after Eren and Levi’s meeting when every resident of the palace was loaded into barques and set out on the Great River so the Pharaoh could perform the ritual to bless the annual flood.

 

The flotilla moved out into the center of the river, led by the Pharaoh’s barque. Levi looked around with interest as the sprawling palace fell behind them and the buildings of the city of Mitras sprang up on the shores of the river. Crowds thronged both banks, silently watching as the boats glided past. Soldiers were interspersed evenly among them, mostly to stop them from getting too close to the river.

As they started to slow to a stop, Levi found himself looking at the boats that held the nobles and trying to spot Eren. He did not see the other boy, and a quick tug on his hair from his mother, Kuchel, brought his attention back to the Pharaoh, who had stepped up to the bow and raised a shallow earthenware bowl over his head as lifted his face toward the sun. The light gleamed off the gold of the mask he wore, in likeness of the Son of Ra, the first mortal Pharaoh and ancestor of the royal line. All who carried the divine blood of the royal line wore masks that covered everything except the area from their mouth to their chin to prevent unworthy eyes from gazing upon them; only a select few were allowed to see their true faces.

As the words of the prayer beseeching the blessings of the gods rolled out, the Prince and the Princess stood ready at the sides of the boat with their own bowls, their mothers standing close behind them. Like their father, they wore masks, but theirs were styled after a hawk’s head.

The Pharaoh tilted his bowl, and fine dirt poured out into the water below. His children followed suit, and soon so did the priests, both on the barques and those standing on the shore. The dirt had been pounded out from red ochre, and as it dispersed into the water of the Great River, it turned it to the color of blood. As the color spread downstream, there was a rumble in the distance that sounded like thunder, although the sky remained as clear as any other summer day overhead.

“A good omen,” his mother murmured to him, a small smile on her face.

Levi nodded, eyes on the Pharaoh’s barque as it slid past to lead the procession back to the palace. There were other children on it that he could see now. Two boys about his own age. One stood with the vizier, blond hair shining in the sun and blue eyes bright and inquisitive. The other had sandy hair and amber colored eyes, and he sported a bored expression where he stood with a group of nobles - most likely the Pharaoh’s advisors if they were on the royal barque.

 

Finally, they arrived at the palace and were disembarked, and their guards led them back to the harem. Once there, the rooms erupted in a flurry of activity. Though the ritual today had been solemn, the night would be filled with feasting, and so the harem slaves would all be sent for, to entertain with music, dance, storytelling, and… other things. Levi helped his mother rebraid her hair with beads and small golden ornaments while she applied her make-up. Unlike many of the others in the harem, Kuchel did not wear wigs, her natural hair being thick and as black as a raven’s wing.

“Levi, get me my necklace and armbands - the ones with the turquoise stones.” Kuchel set down her kohl stick and quickly ground up red ochre, mixing it with water. While she tinted her cheeks and lips with the resulting paste, Levi dug through the small chest of jewelry, most of them gifts from previous paramours. With the festival air in the palace tonight, it was likely that when his mother came back, she would have one or two new trinkets to add to her collection. He found what he was looking for, and his mother slid the bands into place on her upper arms while Levi set the necklace around her throat and secured the clasp.

Kuchel took one last look at herself in her hand mirror and then turned to Levi, smiling as she cupped his face in her hands and bent to press her lips against his forehead. “Mother…” He wiped at the lip-print left behind, and she laughed at the frown turning down the corners of his mouth.

“Now be good, and make sure the little ones get put to bed after supper. Most of us will probably not be back until near dawn.” Kuchel’s smile turned a little sad. “Ah, but you won’t have to watch them for much longer; this winter will be your twelfth year, and you’ll be starting your training.”

Levi nodded. Truth be told, he was actually looking forward to it. The training at first would only consist of learning at least one instrument, dancing, and how to converse with nobles. As for the other duties, his instruction would not involve actually _doing_ them, and he would not be required to actually perform them until he came of age at sixteen. He was not particularly looking forward to it, but he was not dreading it, either. If he did well, he could eventually amass enough wealth to buy his freedom and either stay in the harem as a paid instructor or, if he did _very_ well, even buy a small house and retire. He could also be bought by one of the nobles as a concubine, which would provide him a much more comfortable life and grant him a higher status than a slave, if not quite the rights of a full citizen.

Kuchel smoothed her hand over Levi’s cheek once more in farewell and stood up to join the line of the other women and men of the harem as they dispersed through the palace to entertain the various gatherings. Soon only the children, the trainees, and the instructors were left behind. A throng of children surrounded Levi, and he let himself be pulled over to a corner to play with them until the servants brought their supper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A [shendyt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shendyt) is the kilt-like garment that men in ancient Egypt wore.


	2. Coming of Age

As the years passed, Levi and Eren managed to somehow keep up their unlikely friendship and their unconventional meetings. It was harder to meet in the winter; with the cooler days, people no longer grew sleepy at midday, so instead the two boys had taken to meeting at night, when most of the palace was relaxing after supper or caught up in revelries. One such night, Eren had convinced Levi to climb up onto the roof, and they both sat there huddled in cloaks and stared up at the stars. After a long period of silence, Levi cleared his throat. “I don’t think we’ll be able to meet much longer. Not until summer, at least.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Levi saw Eren whip his head around to stare at him in surprise. “What? Why?”

Levi shrugged, keeping his face turned up toward the sky. “I turn sixteen on the solstice. I’ll be expected to take up my duties then.” Only then did Levi look at Eren.

Eren blinked in confusion for a moment, and then his mouth dropped open in an “o” of understanding as his cheeks colored slightly darker. “And have you ever…” He trailed off as if embarrassed and then continued, leaving the words unspoken, “...before?”

Levi understood what he was asking, and shook his head. “We are told how to please a woman or a man, but we don’t actually perform the act. Many nobles will make a generous gift to the palace to have our first night.”

“Doesn’t that bother you? That you’re just...sold off to the highest bidder with no say in it?”

Levi shrugged. “Should it?”

“Yes!” Eren’s voice was rising now, as it often did when he grew impassioned by something. “That’s awful, to have to spend your first time with someone who doesn’t care about you, who doesn’t _know_ you! I-mmph!!”

Levi clapped his hand over Eren’s mouth. “Shh! Do you want someone to discover us, you idiot?”

Eren’s eyes glittered in the moonlight as he regarded Levi. Then, Levi felt something warm and slimy brush across his palm.

He jerked his hand away and wiped it against his cloak, all the while scowling at Eren in affront. “Gross.”

Eren laughed. “I would think someone from the harem would be less disgusted by body fluids.”

“It’s different when I’m _expecting_ them.”

Eren laughed once more before growing serious again. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Levi?”

Levi pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them. “I’m a slave, Eren. It doesn’t matter what I want, so it’s better if I’m okay with it.”

“But what would you do, if you could do whatever you wanted?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it. I can’t afford to let myself think about it.” He sighed. “Why are you even asking?”

“You’re my friend. I just want you to be happy.”

“I’m happy enough. It’s not like you can do anything about it, anyway.”

A stubborn look settled over Eren’s face. “Maybe I can.”

Levi snorted and ruffled a hand through Eren’s hair. “Sure thing. And maybe while you’re at it, you can convince one of the gods or goddesses to come down from those stars and declare they’re taking me for a husband.”

**~~~~~**

 

Something odd was going on. Levi had started being sent out with the other harem slaves to entertain, but so far all he had been doing was playing his lute or dancing. Not once had he been sent with a noble as a companion. He had noticed a few times people speaking quietly with the overseer while glancing over at him, but each time the overseer had shook his head before signaling to one of the other young men or women. His mother had not known what was going on either, and when Levi had asked the overseer if there was some flaw he needed to correct, the man had insisted that there was nothing wrong with his performance or appearance and refused to elaborate further.

This continued until spring, shortly before the khamaseen - the hot dry wind that blew in over the desert - normally began. Until the day the Prince turned sixteen.

The entire day was a city-wide celebration of the Prince’s coming of age and the announcement of his throne name, Wahibra in the Old Tongue. There were chariot races, archery contests, and hunts, followed by a huge feast. After, the royal family and everyone of importance in the kingdom from miles around gathered in the great hall. Levi was one of the ones called to entertain.

He was playing music in a small group with a few others from the harem when he noticed that one of the nobles that had been staring at him for a while stood up and strode to the harem overseer, who happened to be seated near to Levi’s group. At first, Levi could not hear what was discussed between them, but then the noble’s voice rose, his face flushing red with more than just the wine he had been drinking heavily.

“Do you mean to insult me! I said I wanted that boy there, with the lute!”

“And I said he is not available, my lord,” the overseer said evenly. “We have many other talented entertainers, who I am sure will be most-”

“Do not trifle with me, Overseer Pixis. I said I wanted him, not some substitute.”

“That slave is already spoken for, as I explained.” Levi's hands almost stilled in their playing; this was the first he'd heard of any such thing. Although a lot of the events of the past few months started to make more sense.

The noble snorted. “Do you have any idea who I am? Surely there is no one here who would offer a greater gift for the boy than I have.”

“Is there a problem here?”

The entire hall went still as the steady voice cut through the argument. The drunken noble turned, face paling entirely under his flush as he caught sight of the woman in the enameled hawk’s mask staring back at him.

“Y-your Highness, I am sorry. I-I did not mean to disturb-”

The Princess cut him off with a raised hand. “Overseer. My father wishes some music on the dais.” Levi felt his heart leap into his throat as the gaze behind the darkened eye-holes of the mask settled on him. “You may present him now.”

“At once, Your Highness.” Before Pixis had even finished his bow, the Princess had turned and stalked back to her seat. He quickly motioned for Levi to stand.

Levi followed him to the royal dais, praying with each step that his legs would not just give out under him. His heart was pounding so loudly in his chest, he wouldn’t be surprised if everyone they passed could hear it.

Pixis stopped well before the throne, dropping into an obeisance, which Levi quickly copied. Despite living in the same palace, he had never been - never been allowed to be - this close to anyone in the royal family before. And here he was, directly in front of the thrones of the Pharaoh and his Queen. The Princess’s mother, along with the other concubines and the Queen's ladies-in-waiting were seated on cushions scattered across the dais on one side of the thrones, and the Prince and Princess were sitting close together on the other side.

The Pharaoh raised a hand, indicating they could stand, and Pixis nudged Levi over to a cushion placed next to and slightly below the dais, close enough the occupants could hear his playing without it interfering with their conversations.

Levi sank gracefully to a sitting position and placed his hands on his lute strings. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, blocking out the sight of the royal family as he started playing, falling back on his training to let his fingers find the proper notes. He chose a gentle song to start, the slow rhythm helping to calm his breathing and heartbeat. Soon, he was able to relax and open his eyes, concentrating only on the music as he moved effortlessly from one melody to another.

A movement out of the corner of his eye almost made his fingers miss a note, but he caught the mistake and bridged it into an embellishment. As he settled back into the song, he dared to look up. The Prince was leaning close to his father and mother. Levi could not hear what they were saying, but the Queen smiled up at her son and leaned over to whisper something to her husband, who nodded and motioned to someone Levi could not see.

When the song Levi was currently on came to its end, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Pixis motioned for him to get up, and one of the other slaves slid into his place and set down a harp in front of herself. He followed the overseer out of the hall. When the corridors started to become the familiar ones leading to the harem quarters, Levi quickened his steps to catch up to the older man.

“Sir, did I do something wrong?”

Pixis turned to him, eyes crinkling up in a smile. “Not at all, my dear boy. We just need to get you ready.”

“Ready? What do you mean, ‘ready?’”

Just then, the door to the harem opened, revealing his mother on the other side. Pixis placed a hand between Levi’s shoulders and gave him a small push. “Kuchel, I leave him in your capable hands.”

With that he left, and Kuchel led Levi through the quarters to a side room where a large bath had been dragged into place and filled with water. Levi froze. He’d never had the luxury of bathing in anything larger than a hip-bath before, let alone had a bath with water warm enough that he could see steam curling over the surface. There were three other harem slaves waiting in the room, and they turned to him and giggled expectantly when Kuchel let him in.

“Mother, what’s going on?”

Kuchel smiled. “You’ve been chosen as a concubine, Levi.”

His mouth dropped open. “What? But I haven’t… I’ve never… _Who_?”

Kuchel’s smile grew softer as Levi floundered. “The Prince.”

“WHAT?!”

**~~~~~**

 

As luxurious as the bath had looked, it wasn’t that relaxing once Levi had been chided into it and then scrubbed down by the others to within an inch of his life. After the bath, his skin was oiled and perfumed, and he was dressed in a new linen shendyt, secured with a golden belt. A wide pectoral collar was placed around his neck and bare chest, and more jewelry adorned his ankles, wrists, arms, and ears. His hair, as thick and black as his mother’s and hanging just below his shoulders, was braided and beaded, and his eyes were shadowed with malachite and lined with kohl.

Levi followed the guard that had arrived to escort him to the royal wing. It was a good thing he had a guide; even if he _had_ been to the wing before - which he had not - his head was spinning too much for him to begin to find his way there on his own.

He just couldn’t figure out _why_ the Prince had chosen him. What had made him even notice him in the first place. Was this why he hadn’t been sent to anyone else? Were they just waiting for the Prince to come of age? But that would mean that the Prince had somehow decided on Levi before Levi had even started performing for the nobles, and Levi was sure he would have remembered meeting the Prince prior to that.

His head hurt.

They reached the door of the Prince’s residence, and the guard bowed his head respectfully and stepped back so Levi could open the door and enter. Slowly, Levi reached out for the latch, hoping his hand didn’t shake _too_ noticeably.

No one was inside yet, and Levi wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or not. He found himself looking around a sitting room, the walls decorated in scenes of hunting parties and great battles, gold leaf and bright paint gleaming from almost every available surface. There were several large divans in the room, gathered around a plush woven rug that must have been imported from one of the countries across the northern sea. An arched doorway in front of him led out into a walled courtyard, and another to the right showed a corridor. To Levi’s left was a closed door - presumably the Prince’s bedroom.

Levi wondered if he should enter the bedroom to wait or if he should sit down in here. Or if it would be better if he stood. In the end, the choice was made for him, as the door opened behind him while he was still shifting his weight from foot to foot, trying to decide. He turned at the sound, freezing as he saw the young man in the hawk mask step through the door. He started to sink down to his knees. “Please, forgive me, Sun’s Radiance, for-”

The Prince waved his hands. “No, stop, you don’t have to do that. Stand up.”

Levi slowly rose back to his feet. The Prince’s voice had something oddly familiar about it. Levi tilted his head, and looked at him more closely.

He was taller than Levi by more than half-a-head, and his skin was bronzed from hours in the sun. His hair was black and done up in intricate braids, but, from up close, Levi could tell it was a wig. The Prince stepped forward as Levi silently stared at him, and Levi caught a glimpse of his eyes gleaming in amusement under the mask.

His green eyes.

“You…”

The Prince reached up, one hand dislodging the wig and ruffling through short brown hair. His other hand pushed up the hawk mask and pulled it away, revealing a wide, bright grin. “Surprise.”

“Eren…?” Levi took a step back and surreptitiously pinched himself above his hip and blinked.

Eren was still there when he opened his eyes. He cocked his head to the side and looked down at Levi. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yes, I’m fine. I’ve just been casually sneaking out to pet kittens with the next Pharaoh without even realizing it, that’s all.” He rubbed his temple. The headache was getting worse. But, right, he was here for a reason. Levi reached down for his belt.

Eren’s hands clamped around his wrists. “Whoa! What are you doing, Levi?”

“Undressing?” Levi blinked, and then a thought occurred to him. “Ah, I’m sorry. Did you want to do it yourself?”

“What?! No!” A flush rose to Eren’s face. “Just...just sit down here, okay? I’m not going to do anything to you.”

Levi sat down. He was just getting more and more confused. “But… But you made me your concubine…”

“Exactly!” Eren grinned. “Now you’re a member of my household, and we don’t have to sneak around to spend time together!”

“So, Your Radiance made me a concubine just so you could spend more time with me?”

Eren frowned. “I told you to call me Eren.” He sighed. “That’s why I didn’t tell you who I was. Everyone always treats me differently when they find out.”

“Sorry.” Levi shut his eyes and leaned back against the divan. “Let me ask again. Eren, you made me your concubine just so we could spend more time together? And you don’t want sex or anything?”

“Yeah, that’s about it.”

Levi felt his mouth twitching up into a smile at the ridiculousness of the situation. It was like something out of a hero-tale, the prince in disguise befriending a lowly servant. Of course, in those tales the prince usually revealed himself dramatically in order to protect the life of the servant or as part of a grand declaration of love. Not because he wanted to monopolize all of the servant's time. “...Has anyone ever told you you’re a spoiled rotten brat?” 

“Just my sister and my mother. Oh, and Jean, but he’s an ass so it doesn’t count.”

Levi laughed and sat back up. “I don’t...really know what I’m supposed to do now, if you don’t want to…”

Eren quickly shook his head. “No! No, that’s fine.” He cleared his throat. “Actually, I’m pretty tired, and I’m sure you are, too. Maybe we should just go to sleep.”

“Okay.” Levi looked around. “Um, where do I…?”

“Oh.” Eren scratched his head. “Right. Follow me.”

Eren led him through the archway and into the corridor, which had several doors branching off of it. He then opened the first on the left.

“This is supposed to be for my principle wife, but since I don’t have one yet it’s probably okay for you to use it.” Eren hesitated for a moment before backing out of the room. “Um, goodnight, Levi.”

“Goodnight, Eren.”


	3. Settling In

Levi couldn’t sleep. The bed was comfortable - far more comfortable than the simple, straw stuffed pallets on the floor he was used to using. The problem was, the room was so _quiet_. His entire life, he’d shared a room with his mother and at least two of the other slaves, and on feast nights when the adults were gone for all hours, all the children would usually share one room to sleep, curled together like a pile of puppies. It was so strange not to hear the noises caused by other humans, the only sounds being the night wind whistling past the windows or the occasional chirrup of an insect or sleepy peep from a bird out in the garden.

Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Levi got up and grabbed the sheet to wrap around himself. He crept into the hallway and back into the sitting room, bare feet hardly making any noise against the tiled mosaic of the floor and making even less when he encountered the woven rug. Something furry brushed against his ankles and Levi bit his lip to stop from crying out. An inquisitive “meow” from the direction of his feet gave the culprit away as one of the palace cats.

Levi knelt briefly to scratch the cat under its chin, smiling at the loud, rumbling purr that erupted. “Can’t sleep, either, huh?” he whispered. Levi stood back up and crossed the room to the Prince’s door. He stood there a moment, forehead resting against the wood, and then he slowly turned the latch and let himself in.

The door opened soundlessly, and as Levi turned to shut it he felt the cat brush against his ankles again. There was a quiet “click” as the latch caught, and Levi stood still, holding his breath as he listened to the steady, even breathing coming from the bed behind him. The cadence did not change, and Levi turned to look at the figure sprawled out in the moonlight shining through the windows. Eren slept untidily, limbs splayed every which way as if to take up the maximum amount of space on the huge bed, and his mouth hung slightly open in his sleep, although he did not snore. Levi stifled a laugh behind his hand and then he curled up on one of the plush rugs that covered the floor, keeping the sheet wrapped tightly around himself and pillowing his head on his arms.

The cat came and settled against Levi’s stomach, and Levi soon found himself drifting off, lulled by the rhythmic purring of the cat and the small noises Eren made as he moved in his sleep.

 

Levi dreamed that night. At first, he dreamt he was on a huge boat, swaying slightly as it floated down the Great River, but that was swiftly gone, replaced by a dream where the cat grew larger and larger until it covered his entire back  when it laid down next to him. Warmth seemed to emanate from the huge cat’s body, and Levi found himself sighing in his dream and pressing closer against it. The cat’s only response was a wuffling breath against the nape of his neck that sounded almost like laughter.

When the sun shining through the windows woke Levi, he was disoriented for a moment. The frescoes painted on the wall were not the familiar ones of his room in the harem, and the bed was far too high off the ground and far too soft. Then, as his memories of the previous night caught up, he was still confused, for he was sure he had fallen asleep on Eren’s floor. More confusing was the fact that his dream seemed to linger, as there was still warmth pressing all along his spine. Levi shifted, and only then realized he was being lightly held in place. He looked down to see an arm, golden tan against the white sheets, wrapped around his waist.

Levi’s face heated up in mortification. Had he...had he somehow managed to crawl up into the Prince’s bed in his sleep last night? He stifled a quiet groan in his hands and then tried to slide out from Eren’s grasp.

That only caused the arm around his waist to tighten, and a leg came up to hook around his own, locking him further in place. “Stop wiggling,” yawned a sleepy voice in his ear. “You’re comfy.”

Levi stilled, a question rising unbidden to his lips. “How…?”

“I woke up ‘n saw you on the floor, so I carried you here.” Eren was completely nonchalant about it, as if he found people sleeping on the floor all the time and just decided to share a bed with them. Then again, Levi had never asked Eren about his sleeping habits, so maybe he did. Eren nuzzled against his hair. “‘S the matter? Something wrong with your room?”

“No. It’s just...really quiet.”

For a long moment Eren said nothing, and then his arm pulled Levi closer. “You can keep sleeping in here, if it helps. Just, not on the floor, okay?”

Levi hesitated. Although Eren had been his friend first - was still his friend - he couldn’t bring himself to forget that Eren was also the Prince of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Khemia, Sun’s Radiance, and destined to one day assume the throne of the Pharaoh. He didn’t feel like it was his place to presume so much.

Yet, on the other hand, Eren had sounded sincere in his offer, and even now, his warmth against Levi’s back was lulling him back into sleep, the weight of his arm making him feel almost...protected. He wasn’t sure why, but then his mind supplied memories of when he was small, and his mother would take him into her bedroll when he had a nightmare and hold him close until he slept again.

“Alright,” he finally answered. “But only when I can’t sleep.”

“Good.” Eren’s voice held a note of satisfaction in it. “Now less talking, more napping.”

 

When Levi woke again, it was to the sound of a female voice.

“Still asleep, Eren? Really?”

Eren rolled away from Levi and mumbled, “Go away, Mikasa.” Levi blinked his eyes open to see a young woman standing next to Eren’s side of the bed, arms crossed against her chest and dark grey eyes glaring down at the Prince. There was a hawk mask perched on top of her head, not yet pulled down into position to cover her face, and Levi knew instantly that this girl must be the Princess.

“I will not go away. Jean is waiting for you. You promised to spar with him this morning, and if you laze around much longer, it will no longer _be_ morning.”

Eren muttered something that sounded like, “Fuck Jean.”

“Language, Eren!” Mikasa clapped her hands, and a line of servants walked into the room. They pulled Eren out of bed, ignoring his half-awake grumbling and protesting as if they were used to it. Levi was surprised when two of them came over to him, although he went along with their ministrations with much less complaining than Eren did.

Soon they were ready, and Eren bolted the meal the servants brought. Levi, having taken much less time to dress was already finished eating. Eren grabbed his own mask, and Mikasa lowered hers, leading them through the palace until they came to a small inner courtyard. Rather than a garden or a well, this one was just an expanse of dirt, pounded flat. There were two young men waiting there, and Levi realized with a start that he had seen them both before, years ago during the flood ritual. The taller of the two stood and walked into the center of the yard when they appeared.

He crossed his arms in front of his bare chest and smiled crookedly. “It’s about time you showed up, Your Royal Laziness. Spears or swords today?”

“Bite me; I’ll get up when I want. Swords. Winner spars Mikasa next.”

“Sounds more like a punishment than a reward.”

Eren just took off his mask and handed it to Levi with a grin before joining Jean at a stand filled with wooden practice weapons. Levi followed Mikasa around the portico surrounding the open practice area until they came to a group of cushions where the other youth was seated. He gave Mikasa a friendly smile as she sat down next to him and then turned that same smile to Levi. “Hi,” he greeted. “I’m Armin. And _you_ must be the infamous Levi.”

“Infamous?”

Before Levi could get an answer, they were interrupted by a loud shout and the “clack” of wood against wood. Levi turned his head to see Eren and Jean laying into each other with their weapons as if they were iron or bronze instead of wood and fully capable of taking the other’s head off. Eren was wielding a short, broad sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, while Jean had a similar sword and a round shield of boiled leather stretched over a wooden frame.

It was brief, but furious. At one point, Eren lost his dagger and had to scramble after it, barely avoiding a powerful hit from Jean. In the end, he managed to win, sword-point against Jean’s throat and dagger holding back Jean’s blade. Immediately after, Eren faced off against his sister while Jean rested. Mikasa fought with paired dagger and sword like Eren did, her movements swift and precise instead of relying on brute power. Her blades flicked so fast Levi could barely follow them, and within mere moments, Eren was disarmed and laying on his back in the dirt. Likewise, she similarly defeated Jean, showing no mercy.

They took a break when the servants brought lunch, and then Jean and Eren started sparring again. Levi took the opportunity and turned to Armin. "What did you mean earlier? About me being infamous?"

Next to them, Mikasa snorted, and Armin rolled up the papyrus scroll he'd been reading. "Oh, that. Well, Eren's always been really good at, um, not being where he's supposed to be. And then he started disappearing more often."

"And groaning like a grumpy camel whenever he couldn't get away during the day," Mikasa interjected without looking up from the dagger she was sharpening.

"Yes, that. Anyway, we couldn't get it out of him where he was going until last winter, when he finally came to us for advice on how to get someone out of the harem."

"He was ready to just march up to Father and demand you be made free."

Levi gaped at Mikasa. "By the gods,  _no_. I would've had to sell myself right back. Or whored myself on the streets." Levi didn't have any training or experience at anything else, and sixteen was a bit old to start an apprenticeship, even if he could find anyone willing to teach a former slave. As well, he hadn't actually started to entertain anyone yet, so he didn't even have a store of jewelry to fall back on like his mother did.

"That's what I explained to him. Repeatedly." Armin wore an expression that was equal parts amusement and exasperation. "We finally convinced him that the best way was just to request you as a concubine for his coming of age. It's a customary gift, anyway, although usually the arrangement is made with some one a bit more...experienced." He coughed politely and looked away as his cheeks colored slightly pink.

"My brother is a stubborn idiot." Mikasa sheathed her dagger and stood up, giving Levi a calculating look over shoulder. He shivered despite the midday heat; the Princess's gaze felt like it saw right through him to weigh his heart. "You're going to have to be just as stubborn if you don't want him to carry you along on one of his impulsive schemes."

With that, she turned on her heel to join the other two still practicing with their swords, leaving Levi to ponder what he had learned until the afternoon shadows started to lengthen as the sun neared the horizon. Eren bid farewell to his sister and friends then, and Levi followed him back into the palace. It seemed there were no plans for that evening, so everyone parted to go their separate ways.

The servants had already drawn a bath for Eren when they returned to his quarters - their quarters now, Levi supposed - and he told them to just bring supper there before dismissing them. Eren bathed first, and Levi followed when he was done. When he came out of the bathing chamber, the servants were just finished bringing in the meal, and Eren motioned for Levi to join him. It was awkward, at first. Levi opened his mouth several times to say something, but then changed his mind. Finally, Eren turned to him. “Did you...enjoy yourself today, Levi?”

Levi nodded and finished swallowing the candied date in his mouth. “It was interesting. I’ve never watched anyone fighting before. And I liked talking to Armin.”

Eren smiled. “Yes, Armin knows a lot about, well, everything. He’s going to be my vizier, one day.” Eren tilted his head. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I want you to be happy Levi. I know I won’t be able to spend every day with you, but you are free to go anywhere you like in the palace. I’m sure Armin would be happy to show you the library, for instance.”

“Probably.” Levi lowered his head. “Kind of pointless though, seeing as I can’t read.”

“Oh.” Eren’s face flushed slightly, but then he looked at Levi with determination in his face. “I can teach you! Or maybe Armin could; he’d probably be a better choice than me. I could teach you to fight, though, if you wanted. It would be fun to have someone else to spar with besides Jean and Mikasa.”

Levi looked at him, stunned. “You...you want to teach me to fight? _Me_?” It was almost unthinkable that someone would arm a slave, even a former slave, let alone one that had access to the Prince when he was at his most vulnerable. But Eren just kept smiling as if the offer were the most natural thing in the world.

“Yes!” His expression turned thoughtful. “Oh, but only if you want to. Just because you liked watching it doesn’t mean you’ll like fighting. Armin only likes to watch.”

“No, I…” Levi felt an odd sensation, something like a mixture of warmth and awe, bubbling up in his chest at the amount of trust that Eren was showing him, trust that seemed to come to him as naturally as breathing. “I think I’d like that,” he finished quietly.

The smile he got in return was more than enough to ensure that he did not regret his answer.

**~~~~~**

 

In many ways, learning to fight was much, much easier than learning to read. There were so many symbols to memorize, all meaning something different, and combining together to mean yet more things. Armin kept encouraging him and telling him he was doing well, but Levi didn’t think he’d ever be able to read or write more than the most basic messages.

He had, however, always been good at physical things, and his dancing gave him flexibility and speed, which helped. Eren seemed genuinely amazed at his progress, and though Levi knew Eren was biased, it did not stop the feeling of accomplishment he got at every new word of praise.

On days when Eren and Armin were both busy, Levi often found himself wandering the palace. Seemingly inevitably, his feet eventually brought him back to the familiar passages near the harem.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood in the hallway, warily eyeing the guards at the entrance, but eventually the overseer seemed to notice his presence and came out.

“Levi!” Pixis beamed at him. “Were you here to see your mother?”

Levi blinked in surprise. “Can I? I mean, is it allowed?”

Pixis laughed. “Of course it is.” And with that, he beckoned Levi through the door.

It was almost overwhelming the way everyone, especially the children, swarmed around him when he entered the common area, and he unexpectedly found himself blinking back tears. A battle he lost when his mother came up to him and pulled him down into an embrace. “I missed you,” he whispered into her hair as he hid his face in her shoulder.

“I missed you as well, love.” When Kuchel pulled away, her eyes were shining brightly with her own unshed tears, and she placed a gentle hand on his cheek and looked searchingly at his face. “How are you, Levi? Is he treating you well?”

Levi nodded, placing his hand over his mother’s and nuzzling into it. “I’m fine, Mother. Good, even. Er- Prince Wahibra is very kind."

Kuchel smiled and pulled him over to some cushions in the corner. “Good. Now tell me all about him.”


	4. Strengthening Bonds

The days passed swiftly, and soon it was late summer and time for the flood ceremony once again. This time, Levi found himself in a place of honor on the royal barque. He had only interacted with the royal family, apart from Eren and Mikasa, a few times, and it still made him nervous. The first time the Pharaoh had spoken casually to him, Levi had felt certain his heart was going to stop from sheer panic. The Queen was a bit easier, if only because her personality was so very much like Eren’s. Mikasa’s mother was a calming presence; more than any of the others, she understood how overwhelming everything could get for Levi, and she would often steer attention away from him, much to his relief and gratitude.

That summer had been an especially hot one, and that particular day was no exception. Even the rowers seemed listless as they steered the boats out into the river. Levi found himself wondering, as the red ochre was poured into the river, how the Pharaoh and his children could stand having those masks covering their faces in the oppressive heat. Despite being in the shade cast by the barque’s canopy, Levi could feel the sweat running in rivulets down his back. Breathing itself was a struggle, the air warm and humid without a breeze to disturb it. All Levi wanted to do was get back to the palace and slip into a cool bath.

Finally, they made it back and docked, and Levi followed Eren off. As he stepped off the barque, a wave of dizziness hit him, and he stumbled.

Eren was at his side in an instant, a steadying hand on his waist. “Are you all right?”

Levi found his balance and straightened, stepping away from Eren. “I’ll be fine. I think the heat is just getting to me.”

Eren frowned and hesitated, but he eventually nodded. “Okay. Let’s just go back to our room for now, then.”

Levi followed behind him, but as he did, the dizziness came back and he had to concentrate hard on putting one foot in front of the other. He was also, perversely, starting to feel chilled even though he had been so hot moments before.

Levi only realized that Eren had stopped walking and had said something when he nearly walked into him. “What…” Levi began, but his voice scratched. He cleared his throat. “What did you say?”

“I said you look really pale. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fi-” Levi cut himself off as his vision swam, worse than it had when he’d stepped onto the dock. As his sight started to go dim around the edges, he thought he heard Eren call his name as he reached out for him.

Then Levi felt his knees buckle underneath him, and everything went black.

 

The next several hours were blurred together for Levi as he slipped in and out of consciousness. At one point, he could hear the murmur of voices over his head, and he blinked his eyes open to see Eren talking to someone in the robes of a doctor.

"Is he going to be all right?"

"Now, now, Your Radiance. Just make sure you give him the medicine and plenty of water, and he should be fine."

"'Should be' isn't good enough, Hanji!"

"Shh! Not so loud. You'll wake him."

Eren clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes going wide. Levi felt a small tug of amusement, but it was muted under exhaustion, and his eyes fell closed again.  The mattress next to him dipped down, and fingers threaded through his hair. If the other two in the room said anything else, Levi never heard it.

 

Later, a familiar song woke him up, and he saw Kuchel sitting next to the bedside.

"Mother?" His voice was barely more than a hushed whisper.

She smiled and picked up a wet cloth from a bowl next to the bed. Kuchel squeezed out the excess water and used it to wipe Levi's forehead. "Don't try to speak, love. Just rest. Here, I'll get you your medicine."

The medicine was bitter, but his mother gave him cool water to wash it down with. He fell asleep again to the sound of the old lullaby.

 

It was the middle of the night when Levi’s fever broke. He wasn’t even sure _which_ night, he just knew he was suddenly wide awake and freezing but sweating at the same time. He felt the bed shift, and then he was being pulled into a solid and warm embrace.

Levi pulled back and croaked out, “Eren, I’m _sick_. You’re going to get sick, too.”

Eren just laughed. “I’ve been taking care of you for three days. I think it’s too late to worry about it at this point.”

Levi stopped struggling at that. _Three_ days?! Just how sick had he been?

Eren wrapped his arms more firmly around Levi and brought one hand up to comb his fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his face. “Go to sleep,” he said quietly. “You need to get better soon, okay?”

“...Okay.”

Levi’s eyes drifted closed. It was almost frightening how easy it was for him to fall asleep, considering that was almost all he’d been doing lately, but his entire body ached and he was exhausted. He felt Eren press his lips against his temple and heard him murmuring a quiet chant, but he couldn’t make out the words. All he knew was that the steady cadence seemed to wrap around him, thrumming through his veins, ebbing and rising in time with the rhythm of his heart. It made him feel safe, feel cared for. And that was the last conscious thought he had until morning.

 

The next day, Eren insisted on bathing Levi himself, refusing to let any of the servants touch him. Levi protested he could handle it alone, but when Eren had stood back and told him to stand, Levi’s legs had shook like a newborn lamb’s, and so he had conceded and allowed Eren to carry him into the bathing room.

The water in the bath felt a little cool to Levi, but he still had a slight fever, so it was probably skin temperature. Eren cupped some water and poured it over Levi’s head. He smacked at Eren’s hands. “I can wash myself.”

“I know, but I want to do this. Let me?”

With a sigh, Levi sank back against the back of the tub. “Fine.”

He tried not to sigh again, for an entirely different reason, when Eren’s long fingers started gently, but thoroughly, scrubbing at his scalp. Once his hair was rinsed, Eren washed away the dried sweat from the rest of his body, but Levi stopped him with a hand on his wrist when he started to move the cloth down between Levi’s legs. Eren laughed and handed the cloth over to Levi, letting him finish. When he was done, Eren wrapped him in a linen towel and then picked him up to carry him back into the bedroom.

He placed Levi back down on the bed and dried off his hair, still being almost heartbreakingly gentle. Levi closed his eyes and leaned into him. “I’m not going to break, you know.”

“I want to do this,” Eren repeated. “...You scared me.”

Levi chewed on his lip. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Eren finished drying his hair and wrapped his arms around Levi from behind. “Just don’t do it again.”

“Oh? That sounded like an order.”

“It is. It’s an order from the Sun’s Radiance, so you have to obey it.”

Levi smiled and squeezed Eren’s hands. “As you command, Radiance.”

**~~~~~**

 

“How fitting. You not only look like a horse, you fight like one, too!”

“They’re at it again,” Armin remarked, not looking up from the scroll he was studying.

Mikasa picked up a fig and started to cut it into pieces. “I stopped them last time. Levi, you do it.”

“No way, I just got comfortable. Just let them yell and hit each other with swords for a while and they’ll wear themselves out.”

Armin snorted. “Just like when they were toddlers.”

Levi let out a short bark of laughter from where he was sprawled across the cushions. It had been over a year since he’d joined Eren’s household, and he was finally able to relax around Eren’s friends. He was about to reply to Armin when his attention was drawn back to the fight by the sound of his name.

“Come on, Jean, even Levi could beat you in a one-on-one fight.”

Jean laughed and parried Eren’s incoming blow. “Hah, please! The only sword he has any practice handling is the one between your legs.”

Eren suddenly grew very still and stepped away from Jean, disengaging him. Confused, Jean stepped back as well, lowering his weapons. Eren looked toward the three spectators and called out, “Levi!”

Levi hesitated, sharing a wide-eyed stare with Armin before looking at Mikasa who simply shrugged and motioned for him to go. He stood and approached Eren with a sigh. When he reached him, Eren immediately thrust his sword and dagger into his hands. “Eren, are you sure about this?”

He recognized the angry, stubborn line Eren’s mouth had set into. “Go ahead. Wipe that smug grin off his stupid horse face.”

Eren stalked off and sat down next to Mikasa, back ramrod straight and arms crossed firmly over his chest as he glared daggers at Jean. Jean, for his part, stared open-mouthed at Eren before turning to Levi, a baffled expression on his face. “...The hell is he so pissed off for?”

Levi just shrugged, slipping into a fighting stance. Jean’s eyes narrowed, and he mirrored his stance before slowly starting to circle Levi.

Jean was a more cautious fighter than Eren, as was partly revealed by his choice to use a shield instead of the dagger both Eren and Mikasa favored. He was also not as good a fighter as Eren, although no one could match Jean in the chariot races. Levi weighed his options as he tested a few feints to see how Jean reacted. He’d noticed during the many sparring matches he’d watched that Jean could be easily goaded into raising his shield too high, leaving him vulnerable to low attacks.

He fell back at first as Jean answered his thrusts with feints of his own. Then, just as Jean seemed to grow more confident, Levi caught his incoming swing on his dagger instead of dodging it and jabbed with his own sword above where Jean was currently holding his shield. Jean flinched back, lifting his shield high to block the blow, and Levi immediately twisted his dagger around, knocking Jean’s sword hand away at the same time as he reversed his grip.

He dropped down, hitting Jean squarely in his unprotected gut with the dagger’s heavy wooden handle, and he followed it up with a leg sweep that knocked Jean’s feet out from under him as he bent over double from the blow to his stomach. Before Jean had even finished wheezing in pain, the point of Levi’s practice sword was pressed solidly against his throat.

Jean blinked up at him for a few moments before letting go of his sword in surrender. “Holy…” he breathed out. “You fight like you’re Sekhmet-touched.”

Eren walked back up to them and placed his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “I’m done practicing for today. Let’s go back.”

Levi let Eren lead the way to their rooms where Eren promptly threw himself down onto one of the divans. He wrinkled his nose at him. “You know, someone has to clean that.”

Eren didn’t answer, just stared off into space with his brows furrowed together. Levi sighed and knelt in front of him, covering Eren’s hands with his. “Why are you so angry?”

“Why aren’t you?” Eren countered. “He has no right to talk about you like that!”

“He didn’t say anything that everyone else won’t assume.” When Eren’s only answer was a deepening scowl, Levi pressed on. “Eren, I’m your _concubine_ , and before that I was a harem slave. My mother is _still_ in the harem. Are you saying you’re angry because there’s something shameful about that?”

That finally snapped Eren out of it. He blinked and lowered his gaze to Levi. “Of course not. It’s just… It’s like that’s all the value they see in you, and you’re so _much_ more than that. You’re wonderful, Levi.” Eren removed one of his hands from Levi’s grip and stroked his fingers through Levi’s hair. Levi shut his eyes and leaned into the touch, his heart starting to beat a little faster. And then abruptly Eren was standing up. “I’m, um, I’m going to go bathe.”

Levi watched him walk out of the room, the ghost of the warmth of Eren’s hand still lingering on his scalp.

**~~~~~**

 

A short time after the incident with Jean, the palace suddenly erupted in a flurry of activity. All hours of the day and night messengers and high-ranking soldiers were coming and going. There were rumors that strange ships had been seen on the coast, making sporadic raids against the trade cities. These raids were always short, the culprits disappearing almost as quickly as they came. Some were saying that they were not ordinary raiders, but were rather an invasion force testing the response of Khemia. All speculated when the Pharaoh would leave Mitras to lead his armies.

Then, the war that people had been dreading came to pass, and the Pharaoh’s war chariot rode out of the gates. Eren watched him go, the crook and flail clutched in his hands. Levi found him late that night, sitting in the throne that he had not wanted to take for several more years. Levi did not say anything; he just sat down at Eren’s feet and leaned his head against his knee. Eren threaded his fingers through Levi’s hair, and the two stayed there in silence for several long minutes as the moonlight shining through the windows tracked its way across the floor. Then Levi stood and tugged Eren up to his feet with him, coaxing him to bed.

Once Levi had gotten Eren tucked into the sheets, he pulled him close and hummed quietly into his ear as he ran his hands across his back, until he finally felt Eren’s tight grip around him ease and his breathing even out. Levi looked down at Eren’s face, relaxed in sleep, and he leaned down to press his lips against his temple. He didn’t know if the gods would even listen to the prayers of a former slave, but he still prayed with all his heart that the Pharaoh would come back safe.

If only for Eren’s sake.


	5. A Change in Circumstance

That year, Eren took his father’s place during the flood ritual. Though he was nervous, his voice rang out clear and strong for the prayers, and the augers agreed that the omens were good. Indeed, shortly after the floods began, the Pharaoh’s army returned, the Pharaoh victorious and, though weary, unharmed.

The feasting celebrating the victory was more raucous than any that Levi had yet seen, with beer and wine flowing freely. He supposed he couldn’t blame Eren for letting loose and drinking quite a bit more than he usually did.

However, he  _ could _ blame him for making him steer his drunken, uncooperative ass back to their rooms. It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that Eren was still growing while Levi seemed to have already reached his full height. Eren was nearly a full head taller than Levi by now, and it made it awkward to walk with him half slumped across Levi’s shoulders.

“Finally, we’re here.” Levi maneuvered them through the door to the sitting room and from there to the bedroom. He let Eren land in a more-or-less sitting position on the bed and straightened his back. “I swear, next time I’ll have one of the guards carry you, or just leave you in the feast hall to sleep it off.”

Eren grinned. “No you won’t. You like me too much.” He lurched forward to wrap his arms around Levi’s waist, and Levi had to quickly put his hand on Eren’s forehead to stop the metal beak of his mask from jabbing him in the sternum.

“Come on, Eren. You need to undress; you can’t sleep in that stuff.” Ignoring Eren’s whines he hauled him to his feet again, quickly stripping him of his clothing, jewelry, and the offending mask. Or as quickly as he could with Eren giggling and squirming under his hands. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he managed to get Eren safely tucked into bed, and then he undressed himself before he blew out the oil lamp and climbed under the sheet. He hadn’t even settled when Eren suddenly rolled toward him and reached out to pull Levi close.

Levi froze as Eren’s lips covered his in an opened-mouthed kiss. It wasn’t that Eren had never kissed him, but it had always been innocent - on his hair, his temple, even his cheek a few times. Never like this, hard and desperate, his arms wrapped around him like he was afraid he’d disappear. 

As abruptly as the kiss began, Eren ended it, ducking down to hide his face against Levi’s chest. “...Sorry.”

Levi brushed Eren’s hair back with his fingers. “Why?” he asked, the taste of the plum wine Eren had been drinking lingering on his lips.

“I like you.” Eren’s voice was soft. “Want you… But I can’t.”

Levi’s fingers stilled for a moment as he puzzled through Eren’s words. They’d shared a bed often enough that Levi had seen sufficient evidence in the mornings that everything...functioned properly, and he'd just said that he wanted Levi, which had to mean that Eren was attracted to him. So there must have been some other reason hadn't acted on his desire. Levi started carding through his hair again, hoping that Eren couldn’t hear the way his heart was pounding in his chest. “Why not?”

“‘Cause you have to, even if you don’t want to. An’ you wouldn’t tell me if you didn’t like it.” A sigh escaped from Eren’s lips, and his arms started to slacken their hold on Levi. “Don’t want… you to hate me…”

Eren fell silent, and Levi pulled back far enough to peer at his face. He’d fallen asleep or, perhaps more accurately, passed out.  Levi let out a quiet huff before curling up against him and closing his eyes. “I wouldn’t hate you.”

 

The next morning, Eren didn’t seem to remember the kiss or anything that had happened after Levi helped him to bed.

Levi did not have that luxury of forgetfulness, and he found himself painfully aware, with every subtle touch, every time he woke with Eren’s limbs tangled around him, that Eren was constantly holding himself back. Levi was increasingly frustrated, both at Eren for what Levi saw as needless restraint, and at himself for the effect that Eren’s actions had on him, for the tight sensation in his chest that was somehow sweet and painful at the same time.

But before Levi could fully sort out his feelings, more pressing matters took their attention once again. Not long after the flooding season was over and the growing season begun, the invaders returned to the shores of the Lower Kingdom. The Pharaoh rode out to meet them once more, and Eren again filled his seat on the vacant throne. At first, it was easier, but as the months stretched on into the harvest season, the news they received from the north became less frequent and more worrisome, and Levi felt helpless as he watched Eren’s strain grow with each passing week.

**~~~~~**

Late one night, Levi was woken up from his sleep. Disoriented, it took him a little while to recognize that what had roused him was the sensation of fingertips stroking, feather-light, over his hair. His eyes blinked open to see Eren, propped up on one elbow and staring at his face, expression unreadable in the dim moonlight.

Eren’s lips curled into a half-smile when he noticed Levi looking at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Levi opened his mouth, part of him meaning to tell him it was okay, but what slipped out was instead, “Why don’t you just take me already?”

Eren’s hand froze for a moment before resuming the gentle motions through his hair, and his smile seemed to grow a little sad. “I am  _ not _ going to ‘take’ you, Levi. Do you really think so little of me? Or do you value your worth so low?”

“I know  _ exactly _ what I’m worth, and I can recite it to you down to the last deben of copper. I can even convert it into the drachma of Helles, if you like.” Levi did not miss the flash of hurt in Eren’s eyes, and he regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth.

“That isn’t what I meant.” Eren pulled Levi closer to him and pressed his lips against his forehead. “You have no idea how precious you are to me. Just having you by my side is more than enough happiness.”

Levi shut his eyes and hid his face in Eren’s chest, breathing in his familiar scent as he fought back the prickling against his eyelids. His heart felt too full for his body, and it took a few moments before he was able to speak. “I wouldn’t mind...if you wanted more.”

“I know. Thank you.” Eren’s arms tightened around him. “Someday. Not now, but… Someday.”

They fell asleep like that, wrapped around each other’s warmth.

 

When they woke again, Levi thought it was morning, but the orange light in the room wasn’t the right color for dawn. He sat up, looking around in confusion as Eren did the same. It was then that he realized he could faintly smell smoke drifting in through the window. Even more alarming, he could hear shouting and the clash of metal on metal.

Almost as one, they threw back the sheets and belted on their shendyts, but they did not bother with tunics. Eren tossed a sword and dagger to Levi and then grabbed his own from the weapon stand in the corner of his room. Levi snatched up Eren’s hawk mask and handed it to him.

“I think we’ve got more important things to worry about!”

“It’s  _ important _ that the people see their Prince fighting for them!”

Eren fitted his mask into place with a frown, and the two of them ran out into the hall. Eren started to lead the way toward the Pharaoh’s quarters, where his mother would be, but they had barely made it down the corridor when a group of foreign soldiers appeared. They were dressed in long, red tunics with short sleeves, covered over with boiled leather breastplates and skirts made of strips of more leather.

Levi darted forward into their midst, intent on keeping them away from Eren. The soldiers were taken aback by his ferocity, and they seemed to be trying to drop into a fighting formation, but the narrowness of the hallway and Levi’s close proximity hindered it. They were armed only with short swords, but their stance told Levi they were used to fighting with shields. He took advantage of their weakness, aiming for their vulnerable left sides. Soon, his blades were red to the hilt and the tiles of the floor were slippery with blood. Several shapes lay across it, some moaning in pain and some absolutely still.

Levi heard a yell behind him, and his head whipped around to see Eren surrounded by another group of the foreign soldiers. There was another shout, this one filled with pain, and Levi saw one of the enemies pull back a sword that glistened with blood. One of the others rounded on him, angrily saying something in a language Levi didn’t recognize as the figure in the middle of the knot of men crumpled to the floor.

“Eren!” Levi screamed and started to run toward him, but something heavy hit the back of his skull. His vision exploded briefly in stars and then, nothing.

**~~~~~**

“This one’s still alive.”

Levi opened his eyes to see two pairs of sandal clad feet in front of him. His vision swam and a stab of pain surged through his head. He shut his eyes again, and tried to reach up to feel the back of his skull, only to find that his hands were bound together behind his back.

A second voice answered the first, both of them talking in Trade Tongue. “He fought like a demon; took down ten of my men just by himself.”

The first voice hummed. “Send him to the capital. He should be worth some entertainment in the Arena.”

Levi felt himself yanked roughly to his feet by either elbow, and half dragged through the palace. He was brought outside and tossed into the hold of a boat on the river. Around him, he could hear small movements and frightened whispers, and he opened his eyes again, ignoring the pain and nausea to look around.

Several frightened faces looked back. A few were vaguely familiar, but no one he knew personally was among them, and Levi didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not because of it. He worried about his mother. About Mikasa and Jean and Armin. Had they escaped? Were they captured like him? Or worse…?

His thoughts chased themselves in circles, wondering why this had happened, and where their own men had been. Why they hadn’t shown up in time to…to save…

Levi swallowed the lump in his throat. Mercifully, a short time later the hatch was shut, plunging them in darkness. He let his tears flow freely then, absorbed into the damp wood below him, his muffled sobs indistinguishable from those around him.

And even when they reached the delta, and were brought out into the sunlight to be transferred to a ship heading north across the sea, Levi kept that darkness wrapped around his heart.

Because, for him, the Sun would never shine again.


	6. To the Empire

Stohess, City of the Seven Hills, capital of the Reiss Empire. Levi’s first glimpse of the city was through the barred door of the enclosed wagon he and about ten of the other captives had been chained into when the ship had docked. The city was impressive, with its tall buildings, numerous colonnades, and high domes, but what Levi noticed the most was the water. There seemed to be fountains everywhere, spraying what was, to him, a shockingly wasteful amount of water down into stone basins.

After traveling to what seemed to be the heart of the city, Levi watched the roof of a high arch swallow them up as they moved into a downward sloping tunnel. The hooves of the horses echoed off the walls as they slowly made their way down, and other noises started joining it: men shouting, the clang of metal on metal, and, once, a loud roar of some large animal.

The wagon came to a halt in a large, open area underground, and they were yanked out by their captors and made to stand in a line. Levi looked down at his hands, clenching them into fists and making the chains manacled around his wrists rattle.

One of the guards called out, “Overseer! The General has sent you new slaves from Khemia; those he thought would be suitable as gladiators.”

“Oh, gladiators, really? And here I thought they were a new shipment of dancing girls.” The answering voice spoke the Trade Tongue with the familiar tone and accent of Levi’s homeland, and he found himself looking up in shock to see a tall, gaunt man looking back at them critically. He scanned the line of captives, his gaze settling on Levi before his eyes narrowed. He strode forward and gripped Levi’s hair, yanking his head back. The overseer turned to the guards. “Oi! Do you think I’m some kind of idiot who won’t recognize a harem slave when I see one? What the hell is this runt doing here? I need fighters, not some pampered fuck-toy.”

“He was with the Khemian prince. He took out ten legionaries before he was brought down.”

“Hah! So they’re training sluts as personal bodyguards now. And here I thought those tradition-bound muckity-mucks couldn’t learn any new tricks.”

Levi snarled, the casual words rekindling rage and grief into a white-hot knot in his belly. He spat, the glob of phlegm landing on the overseer’s cheek. “Give me a sword,” he growled, “and I’ll split you stem to stern. Then we’ll see who the fighter is.”

The man stared at him for a long moment, his grey eyes inches from Levi’s face. Then he abruptly laughed. “Well! At least one of you has some balls!” An evil grin lingered on his face, and he drew a dagger in his free hand. "Still, if you're going to be a fighter, runt, then you don't need this." He flicked his wrist behind Levi's head, and Levi stumbled forward as his hair was released from the tight hold the man had on it, severed short by his knife.

The man dropped the handful of hair to the floor and flicked the last of the spittle from his face before stepping back and addressing all of them. “Now, listen up, maggots. This is the Amphitheatrum Urium, usually called the Arena, and you all have the great honor of being chosen as gladiators. What that means is, you’ll go out there and hack at each other or recreate hunts for the amusement of the masses. I am the overseer of the gladiators; you can call me Kenny. Any questions?”

“What if we refuse?” The question came from a man at the end of the line, wearing the remains of the uniform of the royal guard.

Kenny grinned. “Do you know what ‘damnatio ad bestias’ is?” At the looks of confusion, he laughed. “Quaint little custom these northern barbarians dreamed up. They keep several animals down here, as you can probably tell from the reek of shit. Lot of ‘em have sharp, pointy teeth. Claws. These ones, they keep just a little hungry. Not enough to hurt ‘em, just enough to make ‘em mean. You refuse to fight, you’re put out in the Arena with no armor, no weapons, and a horde of hungry beasties who’re very grumpy on account that before they’re let out, they’re prodded with sharp sticks. Lions are a favorite. It’s not pretty.” As if to underscore his words, a booming roar echoed through the room from the direction of one of the corridors. “Now, you agree to fight, we take those chains off. You get a room, food on the regular, weapons, and training. Fight well, and the nobs shower you with gifts. You can get riches and fame here, if you’re good. Buy yourself a retirement and a wife to get fat with your brats. Damn sight better than getting sent to be worked to death in the mines or earning your bread on your back like my sister ended up doing.” For an instant, Levi thought he saw Kenny’s gaze flicker over him. “Anyone not willing to fight? Better step forward right now.”

There was some shuffling and muttering along the line, but no one moved forward.

Kenny’s lips curved up in a sharp, predatory smile. “Good choice.”

 

The complex that housed and trained the gladiators was located a short distance away from the Arena, connected by an underground tunnel. It consisted of a huge square building surrounding an open training area made to look like a miniature arena. There were even seats along the upper level, and citizens often filled them to watch the gladiators training. The building itself housed a kitchen and mess hall, lecture rooms where strategy was taught, a small library, indoor practice areas for when the weather was bad, and the barracks, shared two to a room. The newcomers were split up and paired with veteran fighters. Levi’s new roommate was a man with sandy blond hair and hazel eyes named Farlan. There was a quiet thoughtfulness to him that reminded Levi at times of Armin. When he came across Levi quietly cursing to himself as he tried to even out the ragged ends of his hair, Farlan had taken the scissors from him without a word and fixed his hair so it fell more or less neatly to about level with the tops of his ears, the sides and back beneath clipped short.

The days passed swiftly, one blurring into the next under a haze of exhaustion as Levi perfected his swordwork, as well as learning shield, spear, bow, and how to fight in formation. He threw himself into the training, keeping his body moving so his mind did not have time to dwell on the past. This continued until about a month after their arrival in Stohess, when Kenny showed up at the training facility and gathered the Khemian captives together in the training grounds. A few of the veterans lingered near, ostensibly training as they listened in.

“Now,” Kenny began with a smile, “I thought I’d show you what a nice guy I am and share some news from our homeland.” Everyone immediately stilled. “The Pharaoh’s army was scattered at Trost. Seems the old man heard about his son’s death and just, well, _lost his head_.” Kenny laughed, and the group started shifting and muttering amongst themselves. Kenny continued, “Oh, that’s right, you were all captured the night of the raid, so you wouldn’t know. See, the Prince died during it, and Emperor Uri’s brother had his body burned. Publicly.” Kenny cackled, “Poor Prince Wahibra, his Ka doomed to wander lost in Duat forever!”

Whatever else Kenny said, Levi didn’t hear. His blood was roaring in his ears, and he felt as if someone had stolen all the air from his lungs. He’d been prepared to hear that Eren was dead, but this was so much worse. With his body destroyed, without the proper funerary rites given, Kenny was right. Without a body to return to at night, Eren’s Ba could not rise again to reunite with his Ka and form the Akh, the dead that lived again. Eren was lost. He was lost to his people, lost to his gods. Lost to Levi.

He stepped back from the group, leaning against one of the pillars that held up the viewing gallery above. He stared down at the ground and tried to force his breathing to calm, and he wasn’t sure how long he stayed there like that when he noticed sandaled feet gathering around him.

Levi looked up to see six of the group he’d been brought here with, all from the Palace Guard. The man in front he vaguely recognized as being assigned to the Royal quarters, a soldier named Flagon.

Flagon crossed his arms and regarded Levi with an assessing look, filled with more than a little contempt. “You, Levi. You were His Radiance’s concubine, were you not?”

Levi nodded slowly. He was not sure where this was going, but all his instincts were screaming at him to flee. Unfortunately the group, who were now muttering darkly to each other, had him penned in.

Flagon sniffed. “I’ve seen you fight. You must have been by the Prince’s side, so why is it he is dead while someone like _you_ still draws breath?”

Although it was a question Levi had been repeating to himself over and over, hearing it drop from Flagon’s sneering lips ignited a spark of anger in him. “And what about _you_? Tell me, where were the Guard? How did thirty enemy soldiers make it practically to His Radiance’s chambers, and why did none appear when we were fighting for our lives?”

“You _dare_ ?!” Flagon snatched the front of Levi’s tunic, lifting him up and yanking him close. “Someone a bare step above a slave, and _you_ dare to accuse _me_?!” His free hand drew back, but Levi held his gaze steady, refusing to flinch or defend himself from the blow.

It never came. Instead, a hand clamped around Flagon’s wrist. While they were arguing, Farlan and several of the other veterans had surrounded the group, who were now shifting nervously from foot to foot and trying to pretend they were there just by coincidence. “I know you’ve been told the penalty for infighting. Save it for the munus.” Farlan’s face and voice were stern. “Now, let him go.”

“Tch. Wouldn’t want to soil my hands, anyway.” Levi staggered as his tunic was suddenly released, and he reached for the pillar behind him to steady himself. Farlan only then let go of Flagon’s wrist, and the man cradled it to his chest and rubbed the skin lightly. He then walked past Levi, leaning over to whisper in his ear before he left, “Better watch your back, little whore.” Then, he shouldered his way through the crowd and was gone.

Farlan watched him go, a frown deepening on his face. He muttered to himself, “That one’s going to be trouble.” He looked around at everyone still standing there. “What the hell are you all doing? Pair up and get back to practicing. Now!” The other veterans herded their charges away, leaving Farlan and Levi alone. Farlan pushed his hair away from his forehead as he watched them go, and then he turned to Levi. “You alright?”

“Fine.” Levi pushed away from the pillar and went to rejoin the practice, but he was stopped by a hand on his elbow. He looked up to see Farlan looking down at him.

“Well, you don’t look it.” He looked thoughtful. “Go back to the room and lay down for a bit. Take a half-day. Besides,” his eyes slid sideways out to the practice yard, “it’s probably best to give those hotheads time to cool down. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Levi stared down at the hand still on his elbow until Farlan pulled it away with a sheepish smile. “Uh, thanks.”

 

With nothing better to do, and thinking it was probably best not to chance running into Flagon any time soon, Levi headed back to the room and lay down in his cot. He shut his eyes, not really expecting to fall asleep, but the next thing he knew, someone was shaking his shoulder. Levi slowly blinked his eyes open to see Farlan leaning over him in their dark room, a concerned look on his face. “Levi? You were shouting in your sleep.”

Levi sat up and rubbed his eyes, a grimace crossing his face when he realized they were wet. He couldn’t remember what he’d been dreaming about now. There was just a vague impression of darkness, confusion, and urgency. “What-” Levi stopped and swallowed when his voice came out hoarse and cracked. “What was I saying?”

Farlan sat down carefully on the edge of the narrow mattress next to him. “Mostly just a name, I think. Eren?”

“...Oh.” Levi wrapped his arms around his legs and set his chin on his knees without saying anything else.

Farlan let the silence stretch between them for a bit longer before quietly asking, “Was that his name? The Prince’s?”

“Yeah…”

Farlan didn’t say anything else. He just leaned against Levi slightly, and Levi let his eyes close again, grateful for the warmth pressing against his shoulder and arm as he tried to ignore the ache in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terms and Beliefs
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **The Soul**
> 
>  
> 
> Ancient Egyptians believed the soul was divided into five parts.
> 
>  _Ib_ : The heart. The heart was believed to be the source of emotion, thought, will, and intention.
> 
>  _Sheut_ : The shadow. Because it was always present, a person's shadow was believed to contain something of the person it represents. Statues of people and deities were sometimes referred to as shadows, and important people - such as pharaohs - sometimes had a shadow box where part of their _Sheut_ was stored.
> 
>  _Ren_ : Name. A person's name was given to them at birth and was believed to survive as long as that name was spoken.
> 
>  _Ba_ : Personality/Soul. The _Ba_ was everything that makes an individual unique. Egyptian funerary rites were intended to release the _Ba_ from the body so it could unite with the _Ka_ to form the _Akh_. The _Ba_ remains attached to the body after death and must return to it each night to receive new life. If the body is destroyed, the _Ba_ will perish, effectively causing the person to die a second death.
> 
>  _Ka_ : Vital spark/Spirit. The _Ka_ was the part of the soul that causes a person to be alive. Death was believed to occur when the _Ka_ left the body. It was believed to be sustained with food and drink, although it only consumed their essence rather than the physical form. This is why food and drink offerings were left to the dead. Without these offerings to sustain it, the _Ka_ could perish, another possible cause of a second, permanent death.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **The Akh**
> 
>  
> 
> The _Akh_ was formed by the unification of the _Ba_ and _Ka_ after death. If a tomb was no longer in order, an _Akh_ could become something similar to a roaming ghost, capable of causing nightmares, feelings of guilt, sickness, etc. The _Akh_ could also be invoked on by the living, through prayers or letters left in the tomb's offering chapel, to aid living family members, such as by intervening in disputes or making appeals to other dead persons or to deities. They could also inflict punishments.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **The Afterlife**
> 
>  
> 
> Immediately after death, the deceased was sent to the _Duat_ , or Underworld. _Duat_ was home to several monsters and demons, but also to deities, such as Osiris.
> 
> Here, the deceased would have to pass a series of gates guarded by dangerous spirits. If the deceased successfully navigated the dangers of the Underworld, they would reach the _Weighing of the Heart_ , a ritual where Anubis would weigh their heart, or _Ib_ in a scale against a feather representing Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice. If the heart was heavier than the feather, it was eaten by Ammit, the Devourer of Souls. If the scale balanced, the deceased's _Ba_ and _Ka_ were united into the _Akh_. The _Akh_ then traveled toward the paradise of _Aaru_.
> 
> The journey to _Aaru_ , like the journey through _Duat_ , was long and dangerous, also involving passing through several guarded gates. Those that made it were granted eternal life in _Aaru_ , a land described as a series of islands in an endless field of rushes, much like the early Nile delta.


	7. The Arena

The Arena stank. The spaces underneath reeked of animals and the sweat of too many bodies, and the sanded floor of the fighting area itself was not much better, even though it was open to the air. Standing on the sand now, Levi could smell it, the tang of blood permeating everything. He scanned the crowd from the gladiators’ entrance, and Kenny pointed out a large box on the lowest tier, about halfway around the ring.

“That’s the Emperor’s box. You win, you’re gonna want to keep your eye on Emperor Uri - the one with the biggest salad on his head. He’ll hold out his hand. Thumb down, everything’s fine. Sword in the dirt; your opponent lives. But if he slices his thumb across his throat, well, then you’ve got to finish the other guy off. Doesn’t happen much anymore though, not like the days when the old Emperor ruled.” Kenny let out a sigh that sounded almost wistful. Then he slapped Levi on the back. “Now get your ass out there, runt. Try not to embarrass me.”

Levi glared over his shoulder at the coarse man and turned his stumble to a fast walk as he moved to the center of the arena. He didn’t recognize the man approaching from the opposite side. There were several gladiator schools in Stohess, and fighters generally didn’t face off against those of their own school. They stopped a few feet away from each other and banged their swords against their shields in salute before dropping into their stances.

Levi’s opponent moved cautiously. An air of hesitance hung around him. He, like Levi, was probably a new recruit. This wasn’t an important munus; it was merely a diversion between the larger spectacles. Two untried fighters earning their first blood in the Arena.

Levi feinted, testing the other man’s reaction. He was good - the training at the other schools apparently as thorough as Kenny’s school - but not as good as Jean.

Levi stamped that thought down and pressed his attack. He went for quick strikes, scoring a thin cut against arm or leg, a bruising blow against boiled leather armor. He wasn’t going for a kill, merely to disable. And to give the crowd a good show, of course.

Despite Levi drawing out the fight as much as he could with unnecessarily elaborate attacks, it was over quickly. Levi’s opponent began to flag under his relentless assault, and Levi crashed their shields together, sending the man stumbling back. A sweep of his foot unbalanced the gladiator further, sending him sprawling to the sand, Levi’s sword at his throat.

Levi looked up at the Emperor’s box as Kenny had said, relieved to see the thumb down signal, and removed his helmet, as was customary. Around him, the crowd roared and cheered in the stands. Levi let the sound wash over him for a moment before heading back toward the gate where he’d entered the Arena.

He hadn’t made two steps when a change in the din of the crowd behind, applause turning to startled screams, caused him to turn and look over his shoulder.

A tawny blur was racing across the sand from a gate that shouldn’t have been open, heading straight to where Levi’s opponent was still struggling to get to his feet. Levi dropped his helmet and drew his sword. He ran back and leapt over the prone man, raising up his shield just in time.

The force of the lioness crashing into him sent them both tumbling, and pain seared into the back of Levi’s shoulder and across his upper arm. He rolled to his feet as quickly as he could and forced his shield back into place despite the agony the effort caused. Hot blood ran down from the wounds, but he didn’t dare look away from the beast crouched down in the sand in front of him, not even to see how bad they were.

The lioness stared back up at him with unblinking amber eyes. Her entire posture was defensive, wary, but she didn’t spring back into the attack. Levi kept his sword ready, just in case. A splotch of red drew Levi’s attention to her left foreleg, where he’d managed to score a shallow cut. Perhaps that was what had made her draw back.

Movement out of the corner of his eye resolved into the figures of several guards cautiously approaching, most armed with nets and lengths of rope, although a few carried spears or drawn bows. Levi looked back at the lioness, who hadn’t moved. He caught her gaze again, an odd sense of kinship settling over him. They’d both been torn from their homes and brought to this strange land, been caged and forced to fight.

The first net settled over the lioness, and she turned in a snarl, trying to swipe at her captors as they bound more nets and ropes over her. Levi could feel her anger as if it was his own, boiling beneath his skin, urging him to lash out. His hand tightened over the hilt of his sword as the bound lioness was hauled away, presumably to be put in her cage once more. Levi’s teeth ground together as he fought the urge to bury his blade in the retreating backs of the guards.

A shout rang out, breaking Levi from whatever strange spell had taken hold of him, and he shook his head. Another group of guards had emerged from a door near the animal pens, three struggling figures caught between them. They marched up to the center of the Arena, and Levi recognized the man in the lead as Kenny. He also recognized the figure Kenny grabbed by the hair and flung into the dirt as Flagon.

The crowd around them buzzed, delighted at the unscheduled entertainment of the day. Kenny called up toward the Emperor’s box, “Oi, Your Excellence! We caught these three trying to open more of the cages, and we also found the beast-keeper with a nasty bump on his head! What is your judgement?”

The audience hushed as Emperor Uri stepped forward to the balustrade. “Tell me, Overseer. Are these men fighters of any renown?”

“Unbloodied in the Arena, Your Excellence!”

“Such a shame. We’ll have to correct that. Since these three like the beasts so much, then tomorrow, at the opening of the Arena, they can face them.”

A deafening cheer met the Emperor’s pronouncement. Rather than elation, all Levi felt was a sickening knot in his gut as he watched all the color drain from Flagon and his two cronies’ faces. They all knew what it meant, the same punishment that Kenny had threatened them with if they refused to fight. Thrust into the Arena, unarmed, to be torn apart by wild beasts - a barbaric form of public execution.

**~~~~~**

 

Levi’s wounds were treated by the Arena physicians. They stitched them closed - not as expertly as the doctors of Levi’s homeland, who were often priests of Anubis, would have - and then covered them with poultices and bandages. Then he was dosed with something for the pain and sent to his bed.

His dreams that night were strange.

Levi was fighting in the Arena. Opponent after opponent fell before him, the crowd screaming and laughing as each one went down. His arms soon felt like lead, his breath fire in his lungs, the noise of the audience making his head pound and his stomach twist with nausea. But still he fought, until there was no one left to fight, and he stood upon a floor of sand as red as blood.

The walls of the Arena crumbled away, and a forest sprung up in its wake. Levi had never seen a forest before, never seen so many trees before in one place, although Farlan had described it to him. This one was dark and cold and utterly unwelcoming. He was fighting again and this time he was not alone but rather with a handful of men at his back. His weapons and armor were different from what he wore as a gladiator, the tunic the same shade of red as the men who’d invaded the palace. Their opponents were shadowy figures with strange weapons and stranger clothing that slipped through the trees like ghosts. They attacked from all sides, and would have utterly devastated a troop fighting in rigid formation.

Levi and his men did not fight in formation. They fought like the ones attacking them, splitting into groups and pairs, moving through the trees like shadows themselves. Some of those Levi fought he killed, blood staining the sword he held. Some he spared. And some of them joined him, moving into place among his men. And through all this, Levi could see a hawk circling far in the sky above, beckoning him forward.

As he followed the hawk, the land changed again, the soft loam of the forest under his feet suddenly becoming creaking wood. He was on a boat, at first on a sea. Land appeared on either horizon and rapidly closed in on the ship, until it was moving down a river, and an achingly familiar city appeared on the shores.

Levi was no longer on the boat. He was walking down streets that were at once familiar and not, dressed in a linen shendyt and tunic, a sword and dagger belted to his side. The hawk he was following had come down from the sky and was now gliding along just in front of him, sun gleaming on its wings. He followed it still, out of the city and upstream along the banks of the river.

The world blurred around him again. He had brief impressions of reed fields, a desert, a still pool with a lioness staring at him with eyes of warm amber. Then it was reed fields again and a strange city, tombs hidden underground instead of rising in monuments on the horizon. The sound of roaring water and the smell of blood. Eyes again, but glowing gold and bright as the sun. Darkness creeping down from the north as Levi stood in a chariot and faced them, the hawk screaming defiance overhead. The lioness, but this time her eyes shined like silver, a cold fire that grew and swallowed Levi up in it until it was surrounding him and within him all at once. A mask in the likeness of Osiris, blood splashed across it as it lay on an empty throne. Two strong, tanned hands lifting it. The eyes of the mask opened, and the irises blazed green.

 

Levi sat up with a start, breath heaving in his lungs. He winced as the sudden movement pulled at his stitches and looked around the room. He was back at the training school, Farlan nowhere to be seen. By the waning, orange light coming in through the windows it must have been sunset.

A clay pitcher of water sat on the table next to his bed, a wooden cup next to it. Levi filled and drained the cup three times and managed to haul himself up to make use of the chamber pot kept in the corner of the room. He lay back down, mindful of his injured shoulder, and dozed off again, only waking when he heard the door creaking open.

“Oh, good you’re awake.” Farlan came in and set a plate of bread, cheese, and fruit down next to Levi. “Here, I thought you might be hungry. You’ve slept for an entire day.” Farlan lit the lamps in the room as Levi tore into the bread. Now that Farlan had mentioned it, he realized he was starving.

“Explains why I had to piss so much.” After several months, Levi was starting to pick up the rough speech of the other fighters and dropping his court manners. 

Farlan snorted and stretched out on his own bed. “You missed the execution.”

“Good.” For all that Flagon had been most probably trying to kill Levi and had brought his fate upon himself, Levi took no pleasure in the man’s death. If anything, he felt relieved knowing that the man was gone, but that also made him feel vaguely guilty, so he squashed the feelings down and changed the subject. “So, how’d you end up a gladiator anyway? Another captured soldier?”

“No.” Farlan raised himself up on an elbow to face Levi. “My mother was a slave, captured from one of the northern campaigns and brought down to Stohess to be a household servant for the Centurion’s wife. Here, children of slaves are usually born free except in certain circumstances, but they usually can’t become citizens, either. A lot of them indenture themselves, because there really aren’t very many options for them. I was lucky; I had a talent for fighting, so I put myself forward to the gladiator school. Not that I intend to be a gladiator all my life.”

“Planning on building up riches and retiring?”

Farlan shrugged. “Possibly. One thing Kenny didn’t tell you lot is that if you’re exceptionally good, the Emperor likes to reward his favorites with positions in the army. Good a way to get out of Stohess as any.”

“Hmm…” Levi finished off the meal Farlan had brought him and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. The Reissian army could certainly get one out of Stohess. Perhaps even to the strange forest he had seen in his dream.

Or back home.

He looked at Farlan, calculating as the beginnings of a plan stirred in his mind. He didn’t know if the dreams he’d had were a vision of the future or a nudge showing him the path he needed to follow, but he felt a certainty in his gut that they had been sent by the gods themselves. Ra, Sekhmet, Osiris, aspects of all of him had appeared to him, and the gods did not lightly walk into the dreams of mortals.

“Farlan, do you think if two people managed to impress the Emperor enough, he might take them  _ both _ into the army?”

If the gods were offering him a thread of hope, no matter how small, Levi would grasp it with both hands.

And he would weave it into a rope strong enough to hang the usurper sitting on Khemia’s stolen throne.


	8. Commissioned

“Oi! Stop standing like you’re holding in a shit!” Levi pointed at the feet of one of the trainees. “Move ‘em apart, or your opponent will have you on your ass in the sand in five minutes!” He stalked down the line, correcting stances here and there. He came to a halt at the edge of the yard and turned to watch the drills as he tried to ignore the giggling and whispering overhead from the latest group of young women that was lounging around the upper gallery.

Farlan appeared at his elbow and handed over a waterskin. “You seem more irritable than usual.”

Levi opened his mouth to reply but was drowned out by a fresh wave of tittering. He twisted his head up to frown at the offenders, but it only seemed to set off a new bout of excited whispering. He sighed and turned back to the practice yard. “Why the hell do they always show up? They’re just doing basic drills for fuck’s sake; it’s not like they’re ready for practice bouts yet.”

Farlan blinked at him for a moment before doubling over in laughter. “Gods, Levi, haven’t you figured it out? They’re here to watch _you_ , not the newbies.”

Levi felt his jaw going slack before he managed a garbled, “What?” This only set Farlan off more, and he ended up leaning against one of the columns and wiping at his eyes as Levi slowly went from wide-eyed disbelief to a stormy glower. “Cut the bullshit. They are not.”

“It’s not bullshit.” Farlan had stopped laughing and was smiling at Levi like he was in on a secret that Levi wasn’t. “Just step out a little and wave up at them; you’ll see.”

Levi cautiously took a step forward and raised his hand toward the little audience. Not because he was curious, but because he wanted to see the look on Farlan’s face when he was finally proven wrong for once.

Which apparently was going to have to wait for another day because a minor screech rose up from the girls, and one of the bolder ones leaned forward on the balustrade, giving an impressive glimpse of her cleavage. Levi quickly retreated back out of sight and glared over at the trainees who had faltered in their drill until they found their place again. Farlan’s grin stretched even wider, and Levi groaned. “Why? Why _me_?”

“You really have to ask that? You’ve been here three years and you’re undefeated. Do you have any idea how unheard of that is?” Farlan clapped Levi on the shoulder. “Face it, you’ve got fans. Although…” Farlan leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, “If _you_ don’t want the attention, you could always point a few of them toward the _second_ best gladiator.”

Levi placed his palm flat against Farlan’s face and pushed him away. “Shove off. I’m the one that would be kicked out of my own room for the night if I did that.”

**~~~~~**

 

A few days later, Levi was summoned to the Arena by an officious-looking bureaucrat and led up the stairs to a small room. It was richly decorated with ornate carpets and several elegant divans, sprays of flowers brightening the room in beautifully painted vases. The sounds of the current Arena match could be heard from a curtained archway in the opposite wall, and Levi shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot as he became more certain of what was on the other side of the heavy drapery.

Levi’s suspicions were confirmed when two guards in the uniform of the Imperial Legion opened the curtain. Levi immediately recognized the blond man that stepped through the opening, and he dropped down to one knee. “You honor me, Your Excellency.”

Emperor Uri motioned for his guards and Levi’s escort to leave the antechamber and sat down. Only when everyone had left did he acknowledge Levi and gesture toward the divan opposite him. “Please, sit.” Uri waited until Levi had done so before continuing. “Doubtless you are wondering why I brought you here.” He leaned back into his seat, studying Levi carefully. “You have done well - very well - in the Arena. It’s been over twenty years since we had a gladiator distinguish himself so thoroughly. You’ve proven your skill not just in single combat, but also in battle maneuvers leading a small company. It’s those skills I find myself in need of, and I have a proposition for you.”

Levi sat up straighter, willing his hands to stay loose where they rested on his knees instead of curling into tense fists. “I’m listening.”

“To get to the point, I’m going to say something that would scandalize my Generals. Often in the borderlands, my soldiers find themselves in situations where their standard tactics, superior though they may be, are useless, such as forests where they cannot form up into the square, or facing enemies that strike in sudden and random attacks. I need someone that can command a small, mobile group of elite soldiers and who is not constrained by the rigid tactics of the Legion. On paper, you’d be a light cavalry Corporal in the Auxilia with a command of about thirty soldiers. In actuality, you would have equivalent authority as a Centurion, and complete autonomy within reason. You would be able to recruit to your unit as you see fit, whether it is from within the ranks or from the local population. Your job would be to put an end to any resistance you find in the region, whether by infiltration or force of arms.”

“You mean you need a mercenary and a spy.” Levi used every last bit of his years of training in the harem to keep his face completely neutral when in reality he wanted to grin like an idiot as the Emperor dropped the very thing he could have wanted most right in his lap.

“To put it bluntly, yes.” Uri leaned forward, blue eyes boring into Levi with an almost feverish intensity. “Well, do I have your oath?”

“On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“If it was the battle recreations that caught your interest, Farlan was the one responsible for the strategy. I couldn’t possibly do what you ask without him.”

“Done.”

**~~~~~**

 

It didn’t take long for news of their commissions to spread around the gladiator school, and one evening shortly before they were expected to report to the Auxilia for training, the others used the excuse to open several casks of wine.

Levi tolerated the company for a couple hours, but as the wine flowed heavier and the conversation grew more raucous, he caught Farlan’s eye from across the room. Farlan nodded, and he soon had everyone’s attention with what Levi was sure was an exaggerated tale of one of his fights. Unnoticed, Levi slipped outside and shortly found himself in a darkened corner of the viewing gallery, although his gaze was on the night sky above the city rather than the empty training yard below.

He’d already made himself comfortable when he realized he wasn’t alone.

“Kenny.”

The older man stepped out of the doorway he’d been leaning in and sat down on the stone bench next to Levi. He held out a wineskin, and when Levi waved it away, he took a generous drink of it himself before sighing and looking up at the stars as well. “Figured you wouldn’t stay with the rest.”

Levi just shrugged, and they sat in silence for a while before Levi broke it. “What the hell do you want?”

“Nothin’, nothin’. Just got done taking a nice shit and decided to air out for a while.” Kenny cackled at Levi’s expression of disgust before growing serious. “Since the day they brought you here, I knew that if you turned out to be a fighter at all, you’d do me proud. Looks like Kuchel’s blood ran true after all.”

A sharp intake of air hissed through Levi’s teeth, and he wrenched his head around to face Kenny. “How...how do you know that name?”

There was a long silence before Kenny said, “The Pharoah’s line isn’t the only one descended from the gods.”

Kenny was still staring up at the sky, and Levi studied at his profile as he tried to puzzle what had prompted the seeming non-sequitur. “I know.” A few of the nobles claimed divinity in their ancestry. Obviously not whoever Levi’s father had been, or else he would have been forced to acknowledge him. It was unthinkable that the descendant of a god be anything less than a noble, let alone made a slave. The divine lineages were very carefully tracked by the priests.

“Some of the lines breed truer than others, run stronger, strong enough that some of ‘em can even still produce Aspects and call on the god’s power. Ra’s is one, of course. Sekhmet’s line ran just as strong.”

“The line of Sekhmet died out almost five generations ago with Lord Karnet,” Levi interjected. He didn’t really want to be drawn into whatever rambling, half-drunken tangent Kenny was going off on this time, but he couldn’t help it. For over a thousand years, the head of the house had been at the Pharaoh’s side, just as the Vizier was. He - or she - had stood in Sekhmet’s place as the Defender of the Pharaoh, serving as their sword and shield. But then the Sea People had attacked, and the last member of the bloodline had died driving the invaders away from Khemia’s shores.

“What if I told you the line didn’t die out?”

“What?”

Kenny looked at Levi then, eyes dark under the shadows of his brows. “There’s a story my grandfather told me, that his mother told him. There was a poor family in Mitras, and their daughter brought in extra money for them by washing clothes. One morning, a great general happened to see her as she was taking the clothes to the river to wash, and thought she was beautiful. He started to come to the same spot every day, and began talking to the daughter. They fell in love, but then he told her he had to leave with the Pharaoh to go to war. He promised that when he came back victorious, he would make her his wife, for he had no family left to object. But the general never came back, and several months later, the girl had a son with no father.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “And let me guess, the general was Karnet. Is there a point to this?”

“Hold your shit, I’m getting there.” Kenny took another drink of wine. “Eventually, the son had a son of his own, and _that_ son had two children. The family was still poor, and the granddaughter, to help her family, sold herself to the palace harem. The grandson, meanwhile, was told he was good at nothing but fighting, so he left and made his way north doing mercenary work, until he found himself in the Reiss Empire and heard about the Arena. He found a school, and applied to be a gladiator. Every once in awhile, he’d use his old mercenary contacts to send money back home, and through them he heard that his sister had a son.”

Levi shook his head in disbelief. “You expect me to believe that, not only are you by some huge coincidence my _uncle_ , but I’m also descended from a _goddess_? You’re shitting me, old man.”

“Watch your tone, runt.” Kenny leaned close, and Levi wrinkled his nose at the smell of wine on his breath. "Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it, when you faced that lion down after your first munus. A connection between you? She recognized it. That’s why she stopped. As soon as she drew blood, she could smell the goddess. You’d’ve been fucked if it had been a bear or a wolf coming for you instead.” Kenny’s lips pulled back in a crooked smile. “I know how you feel when there’s a weapon in your hand. Like you’re invincible; like there’s raw power flowing through you until your blood is singing from the rightness of it. That’s Sekhmet speaking to you then, boy. You were meant to have a blade in your hand, to fight, not to lie on your back.”

Levi’s fist came up and connected with Kenny’s jaw with a solid “ _crack_.” Kenny toppled backward off the bench, and Levi stood, bending down to scoop up the wineskin from where it lay near Kenny’s outflung hand. “You were right - that did feel damn good.” He took a long pull of the wine before dropping the nearly empty skin on Kenny’s chest. “But you’re a shit uncle.”

Levi turned and left to go back to his room, and Kenny’s laughter followed him halfway down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Auxilia was part of the Imperial Roman Army. Only citizens could serve in the Legion, so free non-citizens that lived in the Roman territories served in the Auxilia. Like the Legion, the Auxilia was composed mostly of volunteers, not conscripts.


	9. Recruits

“I never thought I’d say it, but I am glad to be back in this shithole.”

Farlan grunted in acknowledgement as they made their way through the crowded market of Stohess. They’d just gotten back from their first extended expedition to the forests of the northern frontier. Of the new recruits Levi had taken shortly after taking full command of the unit a few months ago, there were four in particular that he thought he could use. The others would be slowly replaced. One already had been, by a female gladiator that had caught Levi’s eye when Kenny had dragged them both to the Arena upon their return. Ymir was one of the Sea People, captured when they’d entered the southern sea and gotten cut off from the rest of their raiding party by a Legion flotilla. She bore no love for the Reiss Empire, and, though she’d been suspicious at first, she’d agreed to join the Auxilia when Farlan had quietly explained their plan.

Levi was jolted out of his musings by a sudden commotion up ahead. A scream of “Thief!” went up, and Levi saw a small figure with red hair weaving through the crowd. He and Farlan took off at a run after the fleeing figure.

They were led quickly out of the market and into the twisting side alleys of the capital. They might have been at a loss then, but part of Levi’s job while he was in Stohess was to act as an infiltrator and spy among the city’s darker element. He’d quickly discovered that he had a natural gift for memorizing the layout of the streets and an unerring sense of direction. It had not taken him long to learn the alleys like the back of his hand, and Farlan was just as much in his element here as Levi was. As soon as they had an idea of where the thief was running, they split up by unspoken agreement.

Levi soon caught up to the thief who only narrowly avoided his grasp. They darted into a side passage, only to stop with a screech as Farlan met them and pinned their arms to their sides.

“Lemme go!” The would-be thief - a girl, Levi could tell now - struggled inside Farlan’s hold, and with a “thud” her stolen prize tumbled down from her tunic to the cobblestones. It rolled to a stop at Levi’s feet, and he bent down to pick it up.

“An apple? All this for a fucking apple?”

The girl glared at Levi, dark green eyes blazing. “Well if ya don’t want it, give it back! Some of us ain’t eaten today, not that a coupla fat Legionnaires would know what that’s like!”

“Fat?!” Farlan moved his grip to the back of her tunic as she tried to twist away from and run, and  she dangled there like a small, angry, combative kitten. “We’re not fat!”

“Sure ya are! Fat purses and fatter heads, seems fat enough to me.”

Levi laughed as Farlan sputtered in indignation. He tossed the apple back, and she managed to catch it despite still dangling a foot in the air. She looked at Levi suspiciously before chomping into the apple, her gaze not leaving him the entire time she chewed as if she was daring him to take it back now. Levi eyed her speculatively. She was thin, too thin, the bones of her wrists and her collarbone jutting in sharp relief against her skin. “You know, a single apple doesn’t make much of a meal.”

“Better’n nothin’.” Looking at her, Levi could tell that “nothin’” had been her meal far too often.

“How old are you anyway, kid? Shouldn’t your parents be missing you?”

“Don’t got no parents to miss me,” she muttered around a mouthful of apple. She swallowed it noisily and started to count her fingers. “And I’m...um, sixteen? Seventeen? Something like that.” She shrugged as best she could while still being held up by her tunic.

“If you’re that old, why steal? Why not find work?”

“‘Cause no one wants to hire a street rat orphan ‘cept for...for stuff I won’t do!”

“Hm…” Levi cradled his chin in his hand. “Well, it just so happens I find myself in need of a page.”

“Eh? I thought you army-types usually went for boys. You some weirdo that’s got somethin’ against buggering?”

“What? Shit, no, that’s not what I…” Levi sighed and massaged his temples. “Look, kid, I just need someone to run messages for me and gather information. Someone that knows the city. Someone that people in power will ignore and overlook as being unimportant and not a threat. Someone that they’ll talk freely in front of because they’re _so_ unimportant they may as well be invisible.”

Farlan looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Levi, you can’t _seriously_ be thinking about recruiting her?”

The girl looked up at Farlan before grinning at Levi. “I don’t think your friend likes the idea.”

“He’ll get over it. Put her down.” Farlan did as Levi said, his expression saying plain as day that he still didn’t think it was a good idea. Levi ignored him. “Here’s the deal. You come back to our headquarters, and you’ll get a hot meal and a safe place to sleep tonight. In the morning, I’ll give you a message to deliver, and the recipient will give you a token to bring back. If you don’t want to do it, you can leave now, or you can leave tomorrow morning, without delivering the message. But…” Levi leaned down so he was eye-level with her. “If you take that message and then disappear, we’ll consider you an enemy, and we _will_ find you.”

The cocky look faded from her face, and she looked nervous for the first time. “So, this message is somethin’ that’ll get us all the noose, isn’t it?”

“Not this one. But others might be.”

The girl looked down, her bangs covering her face as she considered what Levi had said. Behind her, Farlan had buried his face in the palm of his hand, and Levi had no doubt he’d be getting a piece of his friend’s mind later. The girl eventually looked up. “I don’t hafta really decide until tomorrow, right?”

“That’s right.”

She chewed her lip a bit, then shrugged. “What the heck. Least I’ll get one full belly out of it.”

 

“Slow down. You’re gonna make yourself sick.” Levi watched with amusement as the girl stared up at him, cheeks bulging from the bread and soup she’d been shovelling in. “You got a name?”

“Im’f Iva…” She paused and swallowed her current mouthful. “Isabel.”

Levi nodded, and she went back to eating, although she a bit slower this time. Farlan caught his eye from across the table.

“Are you sure about this? She could just go running to the Imperial Guards or something, and then where would we be?”

“Oi! I ain’t a snitch!” Isabel glared at Farlan from across the table.

Levi set his own spoon down. “So could any of them. We trust that they won’t, though. And my instincts tell me that we can trust her.”

Isabel stuck her tongue out at Farlan and went back to eating. He shook his head and turned to Levi. “I hope your instincts are right. Personally, I think you might just have a weakness for big eyes.”

Levi shrugged and turned his attention to his own dinner. To his right, he caught a glimpse of green, and felt something disquieting settle along his bones. “Maybe you’re right.”

**~~~~~**

 

Levi hated rain. Or, at least, he hated the rain in the northern forests. Here, it never seemed to end, the dampness and the cold creeping into everything. A small blessing of being light cavalry is that his uniform included trousers and boots instead of the bare legs and sandals of the marching units, but even that didn’t seem to help much when the cold had sunk in bone-deep. Still, he had a job to do, and if he ever hoped to be trusted enough to be sent back to Khemia, then he had best do it well. He settled into a more comfortable position in the low branches of the tree, and watched the soldier on patrol near the horse pens pass under him.

The Reiss Empire was having problems in their northern bid for expansion. They had advantage in the open fields and moors, but the thick forests of this region made their formation fighting all but useless. The natives could easily drive them back with smaller numbers once they entered the trees, and could swiftly disappear into the shadows if the Reissians did manage to rally against them. They had decided to halt expansion into the forests for now and just hold the farmland, but the resistance was striking out and harassing the forces along the border with small raiding parties. It wasn’t enough to drive them away, but it was whittling down both numbers and moral.

When Levi’s forces had arrived, he had spoken to several of the Centurions whose troops had been hit. There seemed to be one resistance member who was a particular thorn in their side, and more than one of the soldiers seemed to regard them as some sort of avenging spirit - a messenger of the foreign gods of this place.

Levi snorted to himself. God or not, he’d gotten a good idea of their usual method of attack, and he was going to stop them.

The first warning he got was the horses starting to shy and whinney as they caught an unfamiliar scent. A moment later, there was a clang of metal as a shadow detached from the forest and launched at the guard that had just passed Levi’s position. The guard was pushed backwards, fetching up heavily against the tree Levi was concealed in, and the figure pressed in, blade raised to strike.

Levi jumped down, his own sword coming up to block the assailant’s blade before it could strike. The cloaked figure leaped back out of Levi’s reach as he struck with the long knife held in his other hand. They drew a second knife of their own, and Levi pressed toward them, moving the fight away from the downed guard.

“So,” Levi feinted with his sword, driving them further back. “You’re the one they’re calling ‘The Lion’s Heart.’ Maybe it’s time we see how you fare against the real thing.”

He caught a glimpse of blue eyes glittering at him from beneath the shadows of the hood, and his opponent struck at him without making a sound. They were smaller than Levi, but incredibly fast, and very skilled.

But they were not fast or skilled enough.

Levi matched their strikes and countered with his own, slowly but surely gaining ground. He saw the panic flash in those shadowed eyes as his opponent realized that Levi was herding them in a specific direction, and they tried to dart away, only to have Levi sidestep and block their escape. Their attacks grew more desperate then, swift and short jabs to Levi’s face and legs, but he met them all. His opponent stilled and shifted their weight to their back foot, and Levi knew in the next instant they would turn and run.

They were an instant too late, however.

“Now!” Levi shouted up into the tree above them, and two figures jumped down out of it, a net strung between them. They landed neatly, tangling up Levi’s opponent and disarming them.

Levi sheathed his blades and nodded at his men. “Eld, Gunther. Good work.” He reached out to the figure that had gone still under the net and pulled back the hood, revealing the face under it, framed by long blonde hair that was starting to come undone from where it was tied up. “Well, it seems our lion was a lioness all along.”

The woman spit at him, saying nothing, and Levi motioned for his men to take her away.

He turned back to where the first guard was getting back to her feet, and held out a hand to help her up. “Petra, are you alright?”

She nodded and straightened out her tunic. “A little shaken, sir, but I’m fine. Thanks to you.”

“I’ll send Oluo to take over your patrol. You’re dismissed to rest for the rest of the night.” Levi turned away as she sketched a hasty salute, his mind already on what he had to do next. Likely it would be a long time before he got his rest tonight, if at all.

 

Levi drummed his fingers against his arm as he stared down at their silent captive. So far they’d gotten nothing out of her, not even a name. Time to be more direct then.

“Leave us.” The guards saluted and left the tent. When they were gone, Levi crouched down in front of the woman. “You’re going about this all wrong, you know. This revenge shit.”

She said nothing, only glared at him with eyes that promised death.

Levi sighed and continued, “What do you think you’re accomplishing here? You aren’t driving them away, only annoying them and making things worse for the people in the occupied villages. You frighten the soldiers and annoy the Centurions, and what do you think the Legion does then? They can’t control the resistance, so they accuse the ones they can control of helping them. They impose more rules, curfews, punish them harshly for the slightest thing.”

“Is this supposed to threaten me?”

“Oh, so you can talk. I’d been beginning to think you’d cut out your own tongue or some shit. No, the threat isn’t from me. I’m just saying, there’s a better way to get your revenge."

She scoffed, “What would you know of my revenge? You work for these butchers! And you’d expect me to believe you’re going to commit treason to...what? Help me?”

Levi studied her in silence for a moment before snatching the front of her shirt and yanking her forward until he was nose-to-nose with her. “The brother of the Emperor murdered my husband, and I would burn down the entire world around me if it meant I got to hold that bastard’s beating heart in my hand before I died and took him with me.”

He released her, and she stared at him again. This time, her eyes searched his instead of merely looking at him with contempt. “And what do you want from me?”

“I want you to go to your people, and convince them to wait. Draw further back into the forest, make the Empire think you’ve given up for now, but drive them back if they try to press their advantage. That will relieve some of the pressure on your villages. After that, come to me, with one or two of your best fighters, and I’ll give you a way in to study the Legion’s tactics. Help me, and you can learn how they fight, what their strengths are, and their weaknesses. And when it’s over, you can quietly go back to your people, and teach them what you’ve learned.”

“And drive the Empire out using their own weapons against them.” She thought for a moment. “And if you release me, what’s to stop me from ignoring your order and continuing as I have been?”

Levi drew his dagger, and cut the rope holding her arms and legs. “Absolutely nothing.”

She stood, rubbing at her wrists. “If we meet again, Legion, you can call me Annie.”

With that, she disappeared out the tent flap, and no one stopped her as she made her way back into the forest.

**~~~~~**

 

Isabel and Farlan joined back up to Levi’s company two days later as they were making their way back to the nearest village. Farlan nudged his horse up beside Levi’s and said quietly, “We followed her to their base. If the attacks resume, we can lead the Legion right to it.”

Levi nodded and looked ahead to where the town gate was coming into view. Three figures were waiting near it, a woman and two large men that towered over her petite frame. “I don’t think that will be necessary."

As they drew close, Annie stepped up to the side of the road. “I heard you were taking new recruits, Captain.”

“Indeed. Welcome to the Auxilia.”


	10. Return to Mitras

Five years. Five long years in the Auxilia, and Levi was finally home. Emperor Uri had praised his service to the Empire and sent him to Khemia, saying that his brother could use his expertise. Apparently the occupation was not going smoothly. Rod was only just barely managing to hold onto the Lower Kingdom; the Upper Kingdom was united under the Princess’s banner. Secretly Levi was glad that Mikasa at least had escaped, and that they were causing the usurper so much trouble.

Of course, he’d been careful to keep any of his emotions off his face, just as he’d kept his expression neutral when he’d been presented to the false king - he would never think of Rod as Pharaoh - and his daughter. And just as he was carefully exuding nothing but an air of polite boredom as he mingled at one of the endless parties that Rod seemed fond of holding. Rod’s court had adopted the dress and customs of the land they conquered even down to Rod and Princess Historia donning the royal masks, and, as much as it relieved Levi to be back in familiar surroundings, it infuriated him to see his culture aped by the ones that bled his land dry. Nearly literally; since he’d returned, Levi had learned that the annual floods had been feeble at best for the past eight years. The citizens were suffering under rationed grain, while those in the palace feasted nightly. It was enough to make Levi want to gut everyone in the room.

But that would have to wait, so for now he merely contented himself with imagining doing so to every noble that came up to talk to him.

At least it helped pass the time until he was able to leave.

 

Levi was exhausted when he finally arrived home. He barely had the energy to return the greetings of the on-duty soldiers as he passed through the public areas of the complex given over to his company on his way to his private quarters. Once there, he told Nifa to prepare his bath, and then he dismissed her back to the barracks for the night.

He removed his intricately braided wig and set it on its stand, absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair and remembering when he hadn’t needed to resort to wigs. Still, he was a soldier now; even if he grew his hair back out, he didn’t have the time to fuss with it.

Levi stopped his musings there before they wandered into dangerous territory and started stripping off his jewelry as well when he heard a knock at his door. Sighing, he dropped his pectoral collar on top of the jewelry case and walked into the room that served as both his office and sitting room. “Something better be on fucking fire, or I swear I will _personally_ feed your balls to the nearest crocodile,” Levi snarled as he wrenched open the door.

“Ah, I rather hope that won’t be necessary, Captain.” The short, balding man on the other side, dressed in a Reissian toga, gave an apologetic bow of his head.

“Tch, Dimo. I thought you were one of my men.” Levi stepped back from the door. Dimo was one of the numerous bureaucrats that worked for the usurper Rod, although Levi tried not to hold that against him.

“Easy mistake to make, I’m sure.” Dimo smiled and stepped inside the room. Two soldiers - not part of Levi’s squad - followed behind him. Between them, they escorted a man, dressed in a simple tunic, a hooded cloak draped across his shoulders and hanging over his face, obscuring it. Levi’s eyes immediately went to the shackles that chained the man’s wrists together. The soldiers unlocked the restraints and then stood back at attention on either side of the door.

He turned back to Dimo. “So, this isn’t a social visit, I take it.”

“Ah, no, I’m afraid not.” Dimo smoothed his toga over his expansive belly. He motioned at the two guards who turned and left. “I...well, I was _supposed_ to present this slave to you as a gift, but that isn’t precisely what’s going on.”

“I wouldn’t accept a slave anyway.” Levi crossed his arms, waiting for Dimo to get to the point.

“Right, well, he isn’t precisely a slave. He’s more like a prisoner.” Levi raised an eyebrow, and Dimo continued hastily, “A very _special_ prisoner, who needs to be kept safe and secure at all costs. Pharaoh Rod felt that you, with your rather _unique_ talents and the recommendation from the Emperor, would be best suited to the task after his last handler, er… died.”

Levi’s other eyebrow shot up to join the first. “Died?”

“Yes. It’s surprising how often that’s been happening. Them dying in their sleep. Of blood loss.” Dimo edged toward the door. “A word of advice? I would make sure he’s securely chained at night. Oh, and if he tries to seduce you, it would probably be best to ignore it.”

With that, Dimo was gone, shutting Levi’s door firmly behind him as if he could not put it between himself and Levi’s “gift” fast enough.

Levi shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. So, he’d been “gifted” a prisoner that was so important he hadn’t yet been thrown into a cell or executed despite killing several of his keepers. Great. Either Rod had unwavering trust in him, or he’d somehow gotten word of Levi’s plans and was trying to eliminate him quietly. He sincerely hoped it was the former.

He dropped his hand and faced the prisoner. “Alright, might as well see what I’m dealing with. You can take off that cloak now.”

“If you insist,” he purred out. He reached up and undid the clasp and let the fabric slide down his body to pool on the floor at his feet. He looked Levi up and down through half-lidded eyes. “So, you’re my master now, hm?”

A flash of green caught Levi’s attention - a green more vibrant than even the sedge grass after flood. A green he had been sure he would _never_ see again, not in this life or the one after. But here it was - here _he_ was - close enough to reach out and touch.

Levi froze, unable to speak, as disbelief flooded through him. It was followed quickly by a fierce joy, lighting up his veins but bringing with it an edge of fear. Fear that he was mistaken, that this would turn out to be another dream. Fear that this was all some cruel joke to be dangled before him briefly before the gods snatched it away once again. Finally, he managed to swallow thickly and croak out, “Eren…?”

The seductive smirk fell from the man’s face as those achingly familiar eyes filled with confusion and then narrowed as he studied Levi more intently. There was a spark of recognition, just before his brows furrowed together in anger. He lunged forward and fisted both hands in Levi’s tunic. His momentum brought them both crashing to the ground, with him ending up kneeling over Levi as he sprawled on his back, upper torso held up by his elbows and the grip on his clothing.

“How long, Levi?!” Eren spat out. “How long have you been working for those scum?! Did you even let the ashes of Mitras cool before you pledged yourself to them?!”

“I had no choice! I was chained, thrown on a ship, forced to fight to entertain them!” Eren’s hands loosened in his tunic, and Levi pushed him back, until he was the one looming over Eren, who stared at him with eyes gone wide. “I have more blood on my hands than you can possibly imagine, but I did what I had to do to survive. I survived! Would you rather I was dead? I thought _you_ were dead!” Levi’s arms shook as all the anger that had risen up in him at Eren’s accusations left him just as suddenly, and a watery, grey-black spot dripped onto Eren’s tunic. It took Levi a moment to realize that he was crying, the kohl lining his eyelids mixing with his tears. He shut his eyes and dropped his forehead to Eren’s shoulder, his voice sinking to a whisper. “I thought you were _dead_ , and it broke me.”

“Levi…” Eren wrapped his arms around Levi’s back. Levi returned his embrace fiercely, a sob escaping from his throat as Eren’s hands ran up and down his spine. Levi wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. He could have stayed there forever, but eventually the knowledge that they were still kneeling on the floor caused him to pull away. As he straightened up, Eren lifted his hands to cup Levi’s face. He giggled and swept his thumbs down through the black lines where Levi’s kohl had run down his cheeks. “You kind of look like a cheetah now.”

“Shut up.” Levi brought his hands up to cover Eren’s. “You’re alive.”

“I’m alive,” Eren agreed, turning his hands to entwine their fingers together. “I’m here.”

Levi closed his eyes briefly and squeezed Eren’s hands, and then he stood, tugging Eren up to follow. “Come on. I’ve got bathwater going cold, and you’re _filthy_.”

Eren smiled and followed him into the bathing chamber, and they both disrobed and stepped down into the sunken, rectangular bath. Levi dampened a cloth and started scrubbing the makeup off of his face while Eren sighed and leaned back against the tiles. As soon as Levi was done, he grabbed a clean cloth and started washing Eren’s arms. Eren cracked his eyes open to watch him. “You don’t have to do that, you know. I’m not exactly used to that kind of thing anymore.”

“I want to.”

Eren shrugged, the motion sending the water gently lapping against the sides of the basin, and shut his eyes again. Levi frowned when he reached Eren’s wrist. They were chafed red all around, the skin broken in places where the metal of manacles had dug into it. Eren gave Levi a sad smile when he noticed that Levi had frozen. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” Levi nodded and resumed washing him. After a moment, Eren spoke again. “Levi, how did you-”

“Shh,” Levi cut him off, knowing he was going to ask about the past, the years they’d spent apart. “Later, okay? I promise, we’ll talk about everything tomorrow. Not now.” Levi kept his eyes down, focusing on the lather he was spreading over Eren’s skin. “Right now, I just… I just want to be with you.”

Eren shifted forward to lean into Levi and nuzzled into Levi’s hair. “Okay.” Eren sat back up, and took his own cloth from the nearby stack. “But I want to wash you, too.”

Levi nodded, and Eren washed off Levi’s chest and shoulders as Levi did the same for him, and then they took turns washing each other’s backs and hair. While he washed Eren, Levi could feel a slow anger simmering in his gut every time he found a new bruise or old scar. It wasn’t directed at Eren, but Levi catalogued every hurt in his mind, vowing to himself that he would collect payment for each mark tenfold out of the hide of that fat pretender on the throne. When he was finished with Eren’s back, he washed his hair, calming himself as he ran soothing fingers across Eren’s scalp. A smile came to his lips as Eren all but purred and pressed his head into Levi’s hands.

While he was washing Levi’s back, Eren’s fingers found the scars on his shoulder. “What…?”

“Lion. I got that one not long after...after I got to Stohess.”

Eren traced the mark. “You better tell me about that tomorrow, too.” His voice sounded almost petulant, and Levi looked behind him to see Eren staring at his back with his brows knotted together.

“I will.”

 

Once they were finished, Levi drained the tub, letting his anger drain away with the soiled water - for now. He gently toweled off Eren and led him into the bedroom. He had Eren sit in the bed while he gently slathered a medicinal ointment over the spots where Eren’s wrists had been rubbed raw and then he wrapped each one with thin strips of clean linen. Then Levi unstoppered a jar of olive oil and poured some out into his palm to warm. The scent of lotus started to slowly fill the room.

“Oh,” Eren said with a small, wistful smile as he stretched out along the bed on his stomach. “This is the same infusion you used before.”

“Yeah.” Levi smoothed the oil into Eren’s back. His skin greedily soaked it up, and Levi added more oil, working it into Eren’s shoulders, arms, and legs, until every inch gleamed golden. He swept his thumbs over the thin, silver scars that criss-crossed Eren’s back, the unmistakable marks of a lash, and massaged his muscles until Eren went limp and boneless under him. Then he had Eren roll onto his back and repeated the process on his chest and stomach.

When he finished, Levi wiped off the excess oil on his hands onto his own skin and closed the jar. He blew out the lamp next to the bed, leaving only the moonlight streaming through the high windows to illuminate the room, and lay down next to Eren, pulling the top sheet over both of them.

Eren snaked an arm underneath and pulled him closer, until Levi was half-laying on top of Eren with his head pillowed against his chest. He took Levi’s right hand in his own, and Eren’s thumb slowly ran back and forth across the top of it. “Your hands are different.” His voice was quiet.

Levi just grunted and closed his eyes. He already knew. They were harder and rougher than they had been, much like Levi himself. Scarred from years of battle, whatever gentleness that had been in them worn away. He certainly didn’t need Eren pointing it out. “Don’t-”

“They’re stronger.”

Levi’s eyes flew open. He twisted his head up to look at Eren, but Eren was still staring at their clasped hands. He lifted up Levi’s hand and closed his eyes, his lips brushing against Levi’s knuckles in a gesture that was almost reverent.

Levi’s breath hitched in his throat. It felt as though his heart was gone, replaced by something soft and fragile, wings slowly fluttering to life as it lay curled up in his breast.

Levi shut his eyes and pressed closer to Eren, and Eren’s arm held him tighter in response. He fell asleep like that, lulled by the rhythm of Eren’s heartbeat under his ear, steady and strong and - most miraculously of all - _there_.


	11. Plans and Interruptions

Levi woke up slowly, the dim grey light showing that dawn was still a ways off. His mind felt scattered, fuzzy. Last night, the impossible had happened...or perhaps - more likely - he had only dreamed it. He screwed his eyes shut and rolled over to bury his face in the pillow, willing himself to return to that dream.

Or tried to. He found himself caught, held still by a warm arm wrapped around his waist. Levi snapped fully awake, just as the person behind him stirred, warm breath ghosting against the back of his neck. “Levi? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Levi briefly squeezed Eren’s hand. “Go back to sleep.”

Eren mumbled something unintelligible and scooted closer to him, pressing his nose into Levi’s hair. Levi relaxed against him and let his eyes drift closed.

Only to open them again when Eren’s fingers started to draw aimless patterns across Levi’s skin. First they brushed against his stomach, and then traveled to his sides, skirting the bottom of his ribs. Eren’s hand glided down his side to his hip. His fingers traced the line of muscle before sliding back up to the coarse hair leading down from Levi’s navel. Levi bit his lip as Eren seemed content to tease that spot, trailing his fingers dangerously low before dragging them back up again. “E-Eren...” Levi had meant to sound stern, but his voice betrayed him, the name coming out stuttered and more than half a moan.

“Hm?” Somehow, Eren managed to thoroughly lace the syllable with smugness, and he pressed his lips against Levi’s nape. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fi- _ ah-ne _ …” Levi’s words broke off as Eren’s lips moved to a spot just behind his ear, and he felt a flash of heat travel down his spine that made his fingers curl into fists.

“Oh, you’re really sensitive.” This time, Eren sucked harder against the skin there, allowing his teeth to graze against it, and Levi scrabbled for purchase, one hand twisting into the sheets under him as the other found Eren’s hand, still resting on his stomach, and grasped his fingers tightly.

“Sh-shit…” Levi gasped as Eren nipped lightly at his ear. Levi was - theoretically - the one that should be taking Eren apart, and yet here he was, writhing on the bed and already more than half-hard, just from some teasing and a few kisses on his neck.

Eren pulled Levi closer to him. “It’s okay; I’ve got you.” His hand came up to tilt Levi’s face toward him, and Eren lifted himself so he could kiss Levi, hard and deep. When he pulled away, he brushed back Levi’s bangs. “Let me take care of you, Levi.”

Levi’s breath caught in his throat as Eren looked down at him with eyes so warm and vivid, they almost seemed to glow with their own inner light. He nodded and reached up to bury his hands in Eren’s thick, soft hair, pulling his head down for another kiss. 

Eren shifted, maneuvering them until Levi was lying on his back with Eren above him. The sheet draped over them had slipped down to Eren’s waist, but neither of them noticed as Eren’s hands and lips seemed to be everywhere on Levi at once, trailing fire wherever they touched.

Eren pulled away, and Levi opened his mouth to protest the absence, but he shut it again when he saw that Eren was opening up the jar of oil and pouring some out onto his fingers. He settled back between Levi’s knees and slowly trailed his slick hand up the inside of Levi’s thigh. When he reached Levi’s entrance, he hesitated and looked up to meet his eyes.

“Is this okay? Do you want this?”

Levi nodded quickly, his hands curling into fists where they were stretched above his head. “Yes, please, I need you. Eren…” He did need him - not just now, not just because of the heat coiling in his belly. He’d needed him all those long years wrenched apart, all those cold nights in a lonely bed. And just maybe, judging from the way Eren bent down to kiss him, swallowing Levi’s moans as his free hand moved up to gently uncurl Levi’s fist and lace their fingers together, maybe Eren had needed him, too.

Levi broke off the kiss with a gasp as Eren inserted a second finger, the feeling familiar and yet strange at the same time. Familiar, because he’d been taught how and practiced preparing himself, and strange because this was the first time anyone else had ever been that intimate with him.

As Levi grew used to the feeling of Eren’s fingers stretching him open and prodding against his inner walls, he thought he heard a faint knocking on his office door, but then Eren’s fingers curled upward and brushed against a spot that had Levi’s hips jolting up at the spike of pleasure as a cry tumbled from his lips.

“Ah!” Levi cried out louder as Eren deliberately pressed against the spot again. A sly grin curled Eren’s lips, and he opened his mouth to speak when they were interrupted by the bedroom door to Levi’s right crashing open and slamming against the wall.

“Captain! I heard a scream! Are you-” Petra’s voice broke off in a gasp as she took in the scene before her, Eren looming over Levi with one hand seemingly pinning Levi’s hand above his head, the location of his other hand hidden by the sheet which - praise all the gods - had somehow managed to stay draped around Eren’s waist. Petra remained frozen for only a split second, and then her sword was out and pointed straight at Eren. “Who are you?! Release the Captain!”

Before Eren could even respond, there was the sound of running feet, and Levi smacked his free hand over his face. A moment later, Oluo burst into the room behind Petra, his own sword already drawn. He, too, immediately honed in on Eren. “Villain! How dare you assault our Captain in such a cowardly manner! Stand and face me!”

“Really don’t think you want me to do that,” Eren muttered under his breath.

“It’s not…” Levi trailed off as Eld and Gunther appeared in the doorway, swords drawn as well. He groaned internally and continued. “It’s not what it looks like. Stand down.”

“Captain, whatever this intruder threatened you with to make you say that, I swear I will not let him get away!”

“Anubis’s hairy scrotum, Oluo, you idi- _ ah _ !” Levi moved his hand down to cover his mouth as an involuntary moan escaped and glared up at Eren. Eren gave him an innocent smile, which was somewhat ruined when he once again moved the fingers he still had inside Levi.

Gunther and Eld exchanged a  _ look _ before they each sheathed their swords. Eld nudged Petra. “Come on, I think we really should leave.”

Petra looked back and forth uncertainly between Eld and Eren. “But, the Captain…”

“The Captain isn’t in any immediate danger of being stabbed.” Eld looked thoughtful for a moment. “Not by anything  _ sharp _ , anyway.”

Petra looked over at Levi and Eren once more, confusion across her face, and then her mouth dropped open into an “o” of understanding. Flushing bright red, she sheathed her sword and gave Levi a hurried salute before turning and practically running out the door. 

Oluo, meanwhile, was still confused. “What do you mean, ‘not by anything sharp?’”

“By the gods,” Gunther breathed out, “he’s so innocent.”

Eld grinned “I know. It’s adorable.” He clapped Oluo on the shoulder and turned him around. “Come on; it’s time we had a little discussion with you about the birds and the bees. Or the bees and the bees, in this case.”

The two of them led a protesting Oluo out of Levi’s chambers, shutting the door behind them. When they heard the outer door shut as well, Eren - finally! - removed his fingers from Levi and collapsed in a giggling heap on top of him.

Levi huffed into Eren’s hair and kissed him on the temple before wrapping his arms around Eren’s shoulders and rolling them both over to their sides. “We should get up,” Levi murmured, although neither he nor Eren made any attempt to move. “If those four are up and about, there’s no telling when someone will come barging in next.”

Eren groaned, the sound so much like the protests he would make to Mikasa that Levi had to press his face into Eren’s neck to hide his smile. Eren ran his hands down Levi’s back. “Can’t we just stay here in bed all day instead?”

“As tempting as that sounds, I’m afraid we’ve got too much to do today.” Levi sat up with a yawn, ignoring Eren’s half-hearted whine as he pulled away from the other man, his mind already on the changes to his plans he would have to make. Originally, his only concern had been making sure his soldiers had a clear escape route after he made his move. He hadn’t particularly cared about his own fate, but now that Eren was returned to him, Levi found the stakes suddenly much higher. They needed to get Eren out of Mitras, and they needed allies.

And above all, Levi needed to ensure that he was never pulled from Eren’s side again.

**~~~~~**

 

“I spent the first year in the dungeon. Rod wanted me to agree to marry Princess Historia, to give his line legitimacy. I’d be given back all my luxuries and privilege, as long as I was willing to be a nice obedient puppet for the Reiss Empire.” Eren scowled and shifted restlessly as he spoke, and Levi squeezed his hand. Eren leaned back into his side. “Of course, when the flood season came, he realized he couldn’t keep me caged.”

“Why?” Farlan leaned forward in his seat across from Levi and Eren. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened.” Eren’s teeth flashed white in a humorless smile. “That was the problem. Rod tried to perform the ceremony himself, and there was no flood; the gods refused to acknowledge him. So now I am kept by his favorites and lackeys, and once a year they sneak me out onto a barque at night, cloaked and chained, and force me to perform the ritual. The floods are not as strong as they should be - as long as I am shackled, so too is the Great River - but even a weak flood is better than none at all.”

“You’d think he’d be worried ‘bout ya trying to escape.” Isabel leaned back against Farlan’s legs, idly peeling a grape as she listened to Eren talk.

“Oh, he  _ knows _ I will try to escape. I’ve killed nine of my past caretakers, and another dozen had sent me back to Rod, having grown too fearful to keep me.” Eren’s smile grew a touch feral. “Unfortunately, I haven’t had enough allies in the palace to make good on any of my escape attempts. Not until now, that is.”

“Speaking of allies,” Levi interrupted with a pointed glance to Farlan, “is the trio in place?”

“Yes, they arrived with the 97th Auxilia, with fake papers in place so they won’t be traced back to us. Once we leave with the rest of the company and get in contact with the resistance forces, they’ll provide our path back into the heart of the palace.”

“Resistance forces?” Eren straightened up, gaze locked on Farlan, who nodded.

“They probably wouldn’t have let word of this get to you, Your Radiance, but the Empire really only controls the Lower Kingdom. The Upper Kingdom has declared the Princess as the new Pharaoh and is rallying behind her banner. They’re using Shiganshina as their capital, which is where we’ll be heading.”

Eren slumped back against Levi as if a great deal of tension had suddenly drained out of him. “Mikasa is alive. Praise all the gods,” he murmured.

Farlan cleared his throat. “Levi. Once they’ve realized we’ve gone and taken the Prince with us, they’re going to know where we’re headed. It’ll be impossible to avoid the patrols along the River.”

“We’ll take the Bedouin trails through the desert if we have to; I am getting Eren to Shiganshina.”

Farlan opened his mouth, but his reply was cut off by a knock on Levi’s door. Eren immediately slid off the divan and knelt at Levi’s feet in a perfect image of docility. Levi nodded at Isabel, and she got up to let in the visitor.

“Oh, Dimo, it’s you again.”

“Yes, yes, just me again. Forgive me for intruding, but the Pharaoh wanted to make sure all was well with your...gift? Also, are you quite sure he should be unchained like that?” The last sentence was said in a nervous rush of air as Dimo’s eyes flickered between Levi and Eren.

“Of course. Unlike his other handlers, I know how to properly train a dog.” Levi threaded his hand through Eren’s thick brown hair and gave a gentle tug. Eren followed his cue beautifully, throwing his head back as if his hair had been violently pulled and letting a whine escape his throat. “Now, Dimo, I actually have shit to do with my time, so unless there’s anything else…?”

“Oh, no, I’ll be going now.” Dimo nodded and backed up toward the door. “Ah, just one more thing. Pharaoh Rod wanted me to remind you that the Feast of Hathor is in a fortnight, and that you were in charge of the security again.”

“Of course. I’d never miss an opportunity to watch the nobles get drunk and puke in the decorative urns.”

“Quite right. Captain. Lieutenant.” With a last nod to Levi and Farlan, Dimo was gone, shutting the door behind him.

Levi stood and held a hand out to Eren, who took it and rose gracefully to his feet. They stood there for several moments, fingers still intertwined and a soft smile dancing around Eren’s lips until Farlan pointedly cleared his throat. Levi dropped Eren’s hand and reluctantly turned away from Eren, only to see Farlan and Isabel both grinning at him. “What are you staring at?”

“Nothing, nothing… I was just going to say, I think during the feast will be our best chance to sneak away, especially if we’re in charge of the guard rotation.”

“Right. Start making the preparations now; we don’t have much time. I’ll join you shortly.”

Farlan and Isabel both saluted and headed out, leaving Levi and Eren alone. A moment later, warm arms wound around Levi’s waist and Eren nuzzled into his shoulder. “You’re amazing.”

“What?” A smile tugged at the corner of Levi’s mouth, and he twisted around in Eren’s embrace to face him, his palms coming up to press against Eren’s broad chest. “What brought that on?”

Eren shrugged as best he could without letting go of Levi. “It’s true, though. You were always special, but you’ve come back to me so marvelous and strong. The gods were truly guiding me the day they sent me down the harem corridor.”

“It was a cat and her kittens that sent you that way, Radiance.”

Eren’s hand softly cradled Levi’s jaw as his head bent lower. “Don’t the priests say that cats are the messengers of the gods?”

Levi snorted and rose up until his lips were barely brushing against Eren’s. “Idiot.” 

Eren’s response was laughter that was as golden and warm as the sunlight shining through the high windows, and Levi had to chase that sound and swallow it up, sealing it in a kiss to last him through the duties of the day until nightfall would let him return once again to Eren’s side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Addendum: I know that I am several centuries too early for the Bedouin (and also that Egypt at the height of its power and culture was several centuries before the Roman Empire at the height of its power and culture, although the two did overlap somewhat.) I could have also called the Bedouin the Qedar to at least nudge a little closer to the proper era of history; however, this is MY made-up fantasy world loosely based on real world cultures and that means that _time is my bitch_.


	12. Escape

When his duties were finished that evening, Levi told Eren everything that had happened since they were separated: Stohess, the Arena, his recruitment into the Auxilia, and his building of a strike unit that was loyal to him over the Empire. The tale took hours to tell, beginning over dinner and ending when Levi and Eren were curled up together in Levi’s bed, Eren’s fingers idly trailing over the scars on Levi’s shoulder.

Eren was silent for several moments before he spoke. “Do you believe this Kenny person? That you are descended from Lord Karnet?”

Levi shrugged. “He didn’t have any reason to lie. He knew my mother’s name and her circumstances, and as for the rest...I don’t know.” He hesitated. “I’ve had some strange dreams.”

Eren’s hand brushed along Levi’s jaw. “Then it really was fate that brought you to me. You were always meant to be at my side - to be my Champion, as Sekhmet is Ra’s Shield.” Eren’s voice was hushed, and his eyes filled with wonder as he stared searchingly into Levi’s own.

Levi reached up and took Eren’s hand, twining their fingers together. “I’m still _me_ , Eren.”

Eren smiled, the expression lighting up his face. Levi’s breath caught in his throat at the sight. It was as if all the time they’d been apart melted away, leaving him looking at the boy he’d known ten years ago. Without conscious thought, Levi closed the distance between them, their lips slotting together like that was where they’d always belonged. Eren’s arms wound around Levi’s back, holding him close, and when the kiss ended, Levi pressed his face into the crook of Eren’s neck.

“Hey.” Eren’s hand stroked along his jaw. “Don’t hide from me, love. Please.”

Levi’s heart stuttered at the gentle sweetness in Eren’s words, and he pulled away far enough to meet Eren’s eyes. Eren’s thumb swept across Levi’s cheek, and then he was kissing Levi again.

“Levi.” Eren whispered his name in the space between their lips, voice reverent as a murmured prayer.

“Eren.” Levi answered back with a prayer of his own, one not meant for any distant gods but rather for the divinity that existed right in front of him, bound in mingled breaths, bled into his soul.

Eren’s hands were roaming his body now, and Levi let himself fall apart under him. Every nerve seemed to be singing under Eren’s attention, and Levi just barely managed to keep presence of mind enough to press a hand against Eren’s chest and still him for a moment.

“Careful. We can’t leave any marks behind. Not while we’re still here.”

Eren nodded and leaned down to softly kiss Levi’s clavicle. “Yes. But once we are safe, I want to wear you painted into my skin.”

Levi shivered at the promise laced into Eren’s words. He shivered again and clutched at the sheet beneath them when they finally joined together. One of Eren’s hands left traces of oil behind where he gripped Levi’s hip, and his other cradled the back of Levi’s head as he leaned down for another kiss. Levi gasped into Eren’s mouth as the movement pressed Eren deeper and a spike of pleasure ran up Levi’s spine.

“Are you alright?”

Levi was nodding before Eren had even finished the question. “Keep...keep going.” Levi wrapped his arms around Eren’s shoulders and pulled him closer.

Eren groaned and nuzzled his face against Levi to plant sloppy, open-mouthed kisses along his neck.

Sweat was beading on their skin, running down in rivulets in the warm night air. Eren chased the salt down Levi’s throat with his tongue, and Levi shuddered. He was right on the edge of something, tension coiling tight in his gut as his body instinctively moved to meet Eren’s thrusts.

“Levi…” Eren’s voice was low and rough. He pulled back to look at Levi’s face, his eyes dark with emotion. “I love you...so much…”

Levi felt overwhelmed, warmth twisting in his chest at Eren’s words. At that moment, the tension released, and Levi’s back arched off the bed without his control while his mind went blank.

When Levi blinked back to full awareness, Eren had lowered himself to the bed beside him, his arm flung across Levi’s waist, heedless of the mess. Levi moved closer to him, and Eren shifted to hold him in his arms, their legs tangled together. Soon, they would get up to bathe and change the sheets before falling asleep, but for now Levi was content to close his eyes and relax in Eren’s embrace, letting the concerns of the present and the worries of the future be forgotten, if only for this one, precious moment.

**~~~~~**

 

It was the evening before the feast, and finally everything for their escape was in place. Levi felt some relief as he made his way to his quarters, but he would not truly be able to relax until they were all passing through the gates of Shiganshina.

He tensed up again when he reached his rooms and found a strange woman inside, talking to Eren. Eren, seemingly oblivious to the tight set of Levi’s shoulders or to his hand going automatically to the hilt of his dagger, looked up with a bright smile.

“Levi!” Eren rose from where he had been sitting and greeted Levi with an embrace. “I’m glad you’re back. There’s someone I wanted you to meet.” He tugged on Levi’s arm, drawing him closer to the woman he had been speaking with. “I haven’t entirely been without allies in the Palace. This is my friend.”

“Krista.” The woman held out her hand in the Reissian form of greeting, and Levi took it while he carefully looked her up and down. She was dressed in a fine linen gown, and the jewelry around her arms and neck was set with turquoise and amethyst. Her golden hair was bound into a braid that wrapped around the crown of her head, likely to better accommodate the wearing of a wig, and the skin of the palm that Levi briefly gripped was soft. Whoever this Krista was, she was no servant.

Eren took Levi’s hand as soon as Krista released it and threaded their fingers together. “She wants to come with us, when we leave.”

“Does she?” He turned back to her. “You realize,” he asked, “that if you go with us, you might not ever return home again? This isn’t a pleasure walk through your garden.”

“I know.” She met Levi’s gaze steadily, the bright blue depths of her eyes seemingly guileless. “I want to help Eren.”

“Hm.” Levi tilted his head as if considering. “Tomorrow night, meet us at the boat launch at midnight. If you let anyone follow you, or have anyone waiting for us, I will kill them, and then I will kill you.”

Beside them, Eren let out a noise of protest, but Krista merely nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Captain.”

Levi nodded back, and then turned to the guard stationed at his door. “Ymir. Escort Lady Krista back to wherever she wants in the Palace, and then return to the barracks for the night.”

“Yes, sir!” Ymir responded with a bit more enthusiasm than she usually showed, and Levi watched the two disappear down the corridor with some amusement as Ymir tried not to blatantly stare at Krista the entire way.

Levi shut his door and then gripped Eren by the elbow, steering him toward the bedchamber. “We need to talk.”

**~~~~~**

 

The next evening, the Palace was alight with torches and lanterns, and the sounds of music and revelry could be heard drifting out into the warm night air. Everyone inside seemed too caught up in their feasting and drinking to notice that certain gaps in the patrols lasted longer than they should have, allowing shadowy figures to leave the Palace unseen in groups of two or three.

One such shadow, hooded and cloaked, entered the sheltered dock underneath the Palace, where the royal barques were stored. This shadow did not seem to notice that another shadow detached itself from the wall and crept up behind it, not until a hand covered its mouth and the cool metal of a dagger pressed lightly against its throat.

“Don’t scream, Lady Krista,” Levi murmured in her ear. “Or should I say, Your Highness?”

He felt her let out the breath she’d instinctively drawn, and lowered his hand from her face, although he kept his dagger where it was. “Eren told you.” Historia’s voice was steady, and Levi felt a begrudging respect for her. As much as the Reiss princess might look like a pampered doll, she had a core of iron.

“He didn’t have to.” Levi released her and sheathed his dagger, stepping around to face her. “It was odd that I didn’t recognize you. I make it a point to know the face of every noble in the Palace. And yet, your eyes…” Levi closed the distance between them and lifted her chin, causing the pale moonlight that filtered in through the entrance to dance across her face. “Your eyes were very familiar.” Levi tightened his grip, but Historia did not flinch or look away. “You’re playing a dangerous game. I wonder if you realize that you might be trying to use latrunculi pieces on a senet board.”

“So, what now, Captain? Are you going to kill me? Take me hostage?”

“Hostage… I can’t guarantee it won’t come to that if Rod’s men catch us, and I can’t guarantee that once we reach Shiganshina you won’t be shown the same ‘hospitality’ your father showed Eren. Once we are a safe distance from Mitras, ‘Krista’ will have a decision to make.”  Levi glanced up as three figures emerged from the passage leading up into the Palace. He leaned close and whispered to Historia while Farlan, Isabel, and Eren made their way over to them. “Keep this in mind: the only reason why your corpse isn’t currently being turned into crocodile shit is because Eren trusts you. Betray that trust, and I will make sure you pay dearly for it.”

 

Earlier that evening, Farlan had hidden a fishing boat among the barques. The five of them paddled out to the middle of the river in it, and then allowed the current to carry them north, through the city, with Levi only occasionally correcting their course. Farlan had also smuggled a small barrel of beer aboard, and they blended in with the other boaters carousing on the river until they were safely past the gates of the city. Once Mitras had been reduced to a collection of twinkling lights behind them, Farlan and Levi took up the oars in earnest and steered the boat to the eastern shore. They jumped out when the keel grounded itself, and quickly pulled it up so the others could exit onto dry land.

In the distance, a whistled call sounded out that didn’t quite match the song of any birds native to Khemia. Isabel cupped her hands over her mouth and returned the counter-call. The five of them made their way through the reeds. A dirt track soon appeared, and they followed it until they reached a farm, long abandoned by the look of the overgrown weeds in the yard. A figure in white appeared from behind one of the buildings and beckoned them forward. When they neared him, he handed a bundle of desert robes to Levi.

“Everyone else is already changed, Captain. Eld is just finishing getting the pack camels ready now.”

“Good work, Gunther. Go help him finish; I want us out of here within the hour.”

Gunther saluted and hurried away, in the direction of the barns. Levi passed out the protective clothing to the others. He paused before handing Historia hers.

“Well? Coming with us or staying here?”

Wordlessly, she snatched the robes from Levi’s hands and shrugged into them after discarding her cloak. She lifted her chin defiantly and glared at Levi as if daring him to tell her to remain behind.

Eren let out a low chuckle, and Farlan and Isabel exchanged a confused glance. Levi shook his head at them as his way of signaling ‘not now,’ and settled his own robes over his shoulders. The others followed suit, and they continued down the path Gunther had taken.

 

As they got their camels ready for the trip into the desert, three of the newest recruits, all of them Khemian, came up to Levi and dumped a basket at his feet. Several bronze pegs tumbled out. He knelt down and picked one up to examine it. “The linchpins?”

Connie nodded. “From every single chariot Marco and I could get to. And Sasha cut all the harnesses. They won’t be able to use horses to search for us for a while.”

“Not until they repair the tack or make it on foot to the closest outpost. Good work.” He was just about to mount his camel when Marco stepped forward and cleared his throat, seemingly egged on by the other two.

“Um, excuse me, sir, but are the rumors true?” Marco nodded at where Eren was seated on his camel and laughing at something Isabel had said. “That Prince Wahibra has come back to us from Duat?”

Levi nodded. There was no point in keeping the secret now, not when knowing the truth might make his men fight all the harder to protect Eren, if it came to it. “Eren is the Sun’s Radiance and the rightful Pharaoh.” Levi swung himself into his saddle and urged his camel back up to its feet. “And we are taking him home.”

The three soldiers looked again at Eren with new hope dawning in their faces. They solemnly saluted Levi, and then went to take their places on their own mounts.

 

Levi’s troops made their way southeast, giving Mitras a wide berth. Dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky when they turned eastward away from the river. They climbed the edge of the fertile valley, and Levi rode up beside Eld as they crested the ridge and the desert spread out before them. Passage through would not be easy. The desert was rocky scrubland for the most part. Wadis cut through the terrain, and would force them to either go around the ravines left by the dry riverbeds or find their way down them and up the other side. The biggest problem would be water.

“Are you sure you can find the trail through?” Levi quietly asked Eld, before the others caught up.

“As long as the markers left by my people have not been destroyed. Although with the drought, it may have been long since any of them passed this way. The directions to new oases won’t do us much good if those have dried up as well.”

A high-pitched screech from overhead caused them to look up. A hawk was riding the updraft caused by the rising of the sun. It circled above them three times and then soared out over the desert, tracking the same route that Eld had planned for them.

“That’s a good omen, at least.” Eren had crested the ridge and stopped next to Levi, his eyes following the hawk as if he could still see it against the disk of the sun on the horizon. Considering his lineage, perhaps he could.

Levi nodded and looked back at the rest of his company, raising his arm. He flung it out forward, and they moved on, into the desert, and toward Shiganshina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Latrunculi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludus_latrunculorum) \- A board game played in ancient Rome, similar to chess. 
> 
> [Senet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet) \- A board game played in ancient Egypt.
> 
> [Wadi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi) \- A dry riverbed.


End file.
